LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 FEBRUARY is Global Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) Awareness Month and, to mark the initiative, the charity Heart Children is hosting a conference for young people and adults with the disease.

The Beat Goes On conference on Saturday 12 February in Dublin will offer people impacted by the condition an opportunity to network with their peers and to meet and ask questions of medical experts.

CHD is where a baby’s heart does not develop correctly during pregnancy and there are almost 19,000 people living with the condition in Ireland.

Indeed, each year, between 500 and 600 babies are born here with CHD, which is more than three times the number of children diagnosed with cancer annually.  There are more than 40 types of CHD, with some children having multiple forms. Half of those born with CHD will require at least one open-heart surgery, while some will need to endure several during their lifetime.

In many cases, we still don’t know why it happens. However, parents can be reassured that most maternity hospitals in Ireland now offer a pre-natal scan at 20 weeks, which can help to identify CHD at an early stage.

Over 97% of children with CHD are expected to reach adulthood, so the very welcome news is that there are more adult patients now living with CHD in Ireland than there are children.

Readers who would like more information on the conference, or who wish to register to attend free of charge, can visit www.heartchildren.ie or telephone 01 8740990.