Heartbeat International is devoted to saving lives globally by providing cardiovascular implantable devices and treatment to the needy people of the world.
Heartbeat international is proud of the history and lineage whereby one person’s compassion for his fellow countryman ignited a chain of events that is now taking the form of a global movement. Twenty-five years ago Federico Alfaro, MD, a Guatemalan physician, was treating a seventeen-year-old patient. The boy had a heart condition cardiologists refer to as “heart block”, an affliction in which the heartbeat continually slows until one day the heart just stops pumping. The boy’s condition was curable. The problem was he was poor. Dr. Alfaro tried desperately to find financial assistance to provide the boy with the pacemaker he needed. But in the end he had to watch the boy die. He swore another countryman would not die because they could not afford a pacemaker. From that commitment grew Heartbeat International.
Heartbeat International saves lives by:
- Providing pacemakers, defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization devices and other cardiovascular therapeutic solutions;
- Providing all professional and medical services by doctors and hospitals at NO CHARGE to the patient;
- Providing continuing education programs to all healthcare professionals;
- Developing and providing education and prevention programs through strategic alliances to the general population;
- Providing services regardless of age, gender, religion, culture, or political persuasion;
- Utilizing a time tested and trusted method to fulfill their mission.
An estimated 1 to 3 million people die annually because they cannot afford a LIFESAVING PACEMAKER OPERATION! Thus, the need is greater than the ability to provide! But the problem will only increase as the populations they serve develop cardiovascular disease which is increasing at an alarming rate and is the number one cause of death worldwide.
Currently, Heartbeat International operates 43 Heart Centers in 22 countries, including Guatemala.
To learn more about the work of Heartbeat International, please visit their website.
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