Congenital Heart Awareness Day is marked in Nicosia

TO MARK International Congenital Heart Awareness Day today, the Association of Parents and Friends of Children with Heart Disease thanked everybody who has supported their cause over the 24 years since its establishment.

Among those attending a special reception held at the Makarios Children’s Hospital in Nicosia yesterday was First lady Elsi Christofia who said: “I congratulate all the contributors to this cause, especially the volunteers of the Association as well as McDonald’s restaurants for their support and I hope others follow in their steps. I just want you to know that President Christofias and I personally will be by your side and support you in anything you may need”

The charity aims at raising awareness for the needs of children with heart-related diseases and their families.

At the reception, McDonald’s Cyprus franchisee Renos Andreou presented the Association with a €40,000 cheque from the proceeds they collected on World Children’s Day on November 20.

Chairman of the Association Soteris Stergides said that every year 50-60 children with congenital heart disease were sent abroad, mainly to the United Kingdom to undergo heart surgery.

The head of the Paediatric Department at the hospital, Dr Andreas Hadjidemetriou said that only ten days earlier, three children had successfully undergone open-heart surgery in Cyprus’ first ever Child Cardiology Clinic and that all three operations were a huge success.

The Association presented gifts to children with heart-related diseases who were also entertained by Ronald McDonald.

Approximately 100 children are born with congenital heart disease on the island every year.

* Anyone wishing to contribute to the Association can call the charity lines at 90936061 to donate €1.71, 90937061 to donate €5.13 and 90938061 to give €8.54.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.