Zambia’s National Heart Hospital has received a $200,000 heart-lung machine by Israeli humanitarian organisation Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), increasing the facility’s ability to perform life-saving heart surgeries on children.
The advanced equipment, secured in partnership with Zambia’s National Heart Hospital, was officially handed over in Lusaka by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar during a ceremony attended by his Zambian counterpart Mulambo Haimbe.
The machine is expected to significantly boost the hospital’s ability to treat congenital and acquired heart conditions among children.
Prior to the donation, Zambia’s paediatric cardiac unit could only accommodate a limited number of surgeries annually due to equipment constraints and reliance on external referrals.
The new heart-lung machine will enable the local medical team to perform twice as many procedures, reducing wait times and dependence on overseas treatment.
SACH executive director Simon Fisher said the machine would significantly expand the hospital’s capacity to treat children with critical cardiac conditions, enabling more procedures to be performed locally.
Haimbe welcomed the partnership, describing it as a tangible step toward strengthening Zambia’s healthcare system through strategic international collaboration.
JN/APA