Sri Lanka to establish human heart valve bank for pediatric patients
The Sri Lankan Government plans to establish a human heart valve bank at the Lady Ridgeway Children Hospital in Colombo for pediatric patients.
According to the Lanka Page web site, the government says an estimated 2,500 to3,000 children are born with congenital heart defects in Sri Lanka annually and around 2,000 of them need corrective surgery.
Currently, the practice in Sri Lanka is to use imported bovine grafts (tissue valves) which cost about Rs. 300,000 per graft which is borne by the government.
According to the Ministry of Health, with the rapid advancement in healthcare offered to children with heart diseases in Sri Lanka, the establishment of a Human Heart Valve Bank to provide cardiac valves and tissues necessary for valve replacement and repair of some of the congenital and acquired heart diseases has become a priority.
The process of establishing a Human Heart Valve Bank had been initiated through the Children's Heart Project of Sri Lanka and the Oxford Tissue Bank has already agreed to provide the necessary technical support and advice for the purpose.
The proposal made by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena to establish such a bank at the Lady Ridgeway Children Hospital in Colombo at a cost of about Rs. 30 million has been given cabinet approval.