Save a Child’s Heart: Five Children with Heart Disease from Ivory Coast Arrived in Israel for Life-Saving Surgery

Following a collaboration between the “Save a Child’s Heart – Africa” association, the Menomadin Foundation, the Mitrelli Group and Israeli Wolfson Medical Center, five children from Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) suffering from congenital cardiac defects landed in Israel this morning (Wed) for life-saving surgeries.

The children, aged one to seven, arrived accompanied by their parents, and are expected to stay in Israel throughout the recovery period, for about two months. The procedures will be performed at Wolfson Hospital in Holon, which is considered as the nation’s leading for cardiology and heart surgery.

The initiative to fly the children from Ivory Coast to Israel was made possible thanks to the cooperation between Mitrelli Group, the Menomadin Foundation and their president businessman Haim Taib, who also serves as president of the Save a Child’s Heart Association in Africa, the Institute of Cardiology of Abidjan city (ICA) and the Children of Africa Foundation.

“I would like to express my gratitude to all who help and contribute so that our children recover and be able to enjoy their lives like all children their age”, greeted the Ivorian First Lady Dominique Ouattara, who serves as President of the Children of Africa Foundation. Ouattara spoke at the ceremony held yesterday in Ivory Coast for the children’s departure. “This trip, which instills hope in these children and their families, is an action of the Menomadin Foundation”, she outlined, “and I would like to thank them for this initiative”.

Ouattara also mentioned how the Menomadin Foundation, which is highly active in philanthropic endeavors and impact investments in Africa, also collaborates with the Institute of Cardiology of Abidjan, advancing the training of medical personnel, in order to improve its ability to give better treatment for people who suffer from heart disease.

Also attended the ceremony Dr. Eugène Aka Aouelé, Minister of Health and Israeli Ambassador to Ivory Coast, Léo Vinovezki.

The trip was jointly funded by the Menomadin Foundation and MASHAV, Israel’s Foreign Ministry’s aid agency, through the Israeli embassy in Ivory Coast.

Save a Child’s Heart has treated and saved the lives of over 5,000 children suffering from congenital and remutative heart disease from more than 50 countries around the world. The association flies the children to Israel for operations at Wolfson Hospital. Haim Taib, president of the Menomadin Foundation, joined the association in 2009, when he helped bring 110 sick children from Angola to Israel. Since 2017 Haim Taib has served as the president of Save a Child’s Heart association in Africa.