The invisible child: childhood heart disease in global health

Paediatric cardiac success is possible in low-resource settings when incorporated in broader health systems strengthening efforts, notably surgical scale-up efforts as called for by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery.8 Results from 27 centres in LMICs representing all continents, except for Africa, that participated in the International Quality Improvement Collaborative for Congenital Heart Surgery in Developing World Countries (IQIC) show that when international investments and training partnerships support such efforts, substantial reductions in infection and mortality rates can be achieved.9 Developing local expertise for treating children with heart disease has ripple effects to other health services.