Further reinforcing their mission that “no child should die of heart disease because of a lack of funds”, the Brave Heart Fund launches its annual awareness campaign, commemorating 15 years of saving more than 3,700 lives and stressing the importance of continued community support
Beirut, February 21, 2019 – The Brave Heart Fund (BHF) launched its annual Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Campaign in line with World Heart month at a press conference under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Health to bring more attention to the devastating impact of congenital heart defects on infants, children and their families and to raise awareness about the need for more education, community support and funding to sustain the mounting number of Congenital Heart Disease patients who are in need of financial aid.
In addition to the presence of renowned members of the media, presiding over the event were public figures from the political, social and medical arenas. These included: Dr. Bahij Arbid representing H.E. the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Jamil Jabak who affirmed the MOPH’s commitment to continue its longtime support of the BHF; the Head of the Beirut Municipality Jamal Itani, who pledged the Municipality’s annual contribution; Brave Heart Goodwill Ambassador Roger Saad, A.K.A. DJ Rodge, who reiterated his commitment to help the BHF in its fundraising mission; Blogger and Entrepreneur Lana El Sahely who was introduced as BHF’s new Goodwill Ambassador; the medical team of the Children’s Heart Center at AUBMC and the AUB Office of Development; BHF committee members; Brave Heart supported-children who are featured in the new media awareness campaign, in addition to BHF donors, partners, sponsors and friends.
In the last 15 years to date, the BHF has raised funds through donations and sponsorships from more than 3,300 local and international donors and sponsors to cover the medical and surgical expenses of 3,720 children (to date) suffering from CHD and looking ahead, the number of annual cases in need of support is on the rise. Stressing on the need for increased and continued community support, Joumana Ghandour Atallah, BHF Co-Founder, reported, “The Brave Heart Fund has spent an average of US$4,300 per procedure to treat more than 3,700 children in the last 15 years, with 100% of every donation used to pay for life-saving procedures.” She added, “Over the past 4 years, the Fund has spent on average US$1.38 million on about 350 cases per year which puts a heavy burden on the Fund and still the yearly number of cases in need of funding are increasing drastically