The newly opened Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Hospital Fiji gives hope and a new lease of life to the children of Fiji and South Pacific with absolute free no cost heart surgeries by The Sai Prema Foundation.

It gives us immense pleasure to speak to the family in Fiji, who is the driving force of a foundation, Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Heart Hospital, the chairman Mahendra Tappoo and the director Dr Krupali Tappoo. The real-life heroes who serve their life in the service of others. 

A hospital that commits to serving the underprivileged and needy people of Fiji is exemplified by the building of South Pacific's First Children's Heart Hospital in Suva, Fiji.

It is, in fact, a matter of great pride that Fiji is the first nation in the Pacific and Oceania region to have a specialist Children's Heart Hospital treating children with congenital heart disease (CHD). 

The vision of this children's heart hospital is to become an essential pediatric cardiac care centre for Fiji and the Pacific Island nations

The Foundation had identified congenital heart disease (CHD) as a significant problem affecting the children of Fiji and the Pacific.

 According to the World Health Organization 1% of all children born are born with congenital heart disease. In Fiji, that equates to almost 200 children every year and in the South Pacific, that's about two and a half thousand children that are born with congenital heart disease. The sad fact is that most of the children are unable to survive if they cannot travel abroad for treatment.  

According to the principles of the foundation - “No child or parent will pay for the surgery’’ All services at the hospital, including heart surgery, aftercare, nutrition and education will be provided absolutely free of charge. 

Their focus in terms of congenital heart disease began in the year 2000 but the idea of setting up a hospital initially first started only with a conversation with the Sanjeevani Children's hospital chairman in India around 2015. 

In 2016 with the help of a small team from Australia, India and Oman the first lot of surgeries for children with congenital heart disease at the public hospital was performed in Fiji. The chairman of the Sanjeevani Hospital in India offered assistance with a team, a couple of members from the hospital in India. Because Fiji didn't have a heart hospital then still, the team were able to do forty-five surgeries successfully. Then again, with more surgeries, the following year, they soon realised this was a stopgap, a more like a Band-Aid sort of solution.

There were hundreds of children, and probably they weren't doing justice to them. So quickly realised that there may be a need for a hospital but in the interim, they also realized they had to screen more children. 

The free medical clinic that opened in 2018 added a screening centre in 2019, which was a perfect addition because they were now able to do a lot more with the screening and it was clear that there were a lot of children who had congenital heart disease than earlier thought. 

It only became very important to build a database but also imperative to build a hospital. 

There was an incident that made them speed up their plan of five to ten years process of building a hospital to a more impromptu plan. 

A Fijian single mother whose son, within a few months of being born, was frequently in and out of hospital with infections. No one was able to tell what was wrong. A scan of his heart was done, leading to the discovery of a hole in his heart. Since there were no specialised doctors available to do the surgery in Fiji, the mother was told to take her son to New Zealand for treatment. She was told that the treatment would cost around NZ $100,000. As a single mother earning just around $5000 a year she couldn't afford it. 

The mother decided to return to the village, accepting that she was not going to be able to do anything for her child. And as Dr. Krupali Tappoo mentioned, the mother was just “waiting for her child to die.” 

This incident was a catalyst that led them to realise the importance of establishing the hospital ASAP, shifting Dr Krupali and her husband Sumeet Tappoo 's reasoning - they couldn’t wait for five or ten years for a hospital while children keep dying.

The big task here was to train the locals, but it would take five to seven years to prepare them as specialists. Hence, their surgeon from the US advised them to build the hospital to international standards and US standards and the surgeons would continue to come. 

 The land was granted by the government of Fiji for the hospital. To build the hospital $25 million was spent and none of the funding came through any international aid agencies. 

The founders and members of Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani believed that just because something's free it needn’t be substandard. With these principles, they build a state-of-the-art facility that should be among the best in the world. An environment where children would feel positive and happy. The hospital also includes international in-house laundry and kitchen. 

Nothing came easy and there were some significant challenges, although COVID was an obstacle for everyone. One of the other most significant challenges they faced was finances or funding for the hospital.

As the funding never came from any international aid agencies or prominent philanthropists, they were talking to individuals around the world who felt for the cause and many of the foundation members of Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani are a tiny group of people. Then the other challenge was the lack of local expertise, as they had to rely on overseas knowledge.

Construction in Fiji is unique given the geographical demographics there are no high-rise apartments or buildings, and as for the building standards they had to engage the right people. 

In May this year after the opening, the hospital completed thirty surgeries. The first team came from the United States. Many of the doctors and nurses were from America and they also had a doctor from Oman and a few intensive care unit nurses from Queensland Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

In August, the second team of twenty-one-member came from India. They did another thirty surgeries in eight days. They plan to have another team coming from Singapore this October. That is a testament in itself, when there's a will, there's a way. 

“Most medical professionals who have come to our hospital are volunteers, they donate their valuable time, and none of them get paid to do the work. I have very high regard and respect for the health professionals who to make this nobel contribution, he added. However, the consumables required for each surgery are very expensive.” Mr Mahendra Tappoo adds.

 “A truly global hospital where the support of compassion comes from all across the world transforming young hearts and this hospital is a lot more than just fixing a heart.” Dr Krupali Tappoo.

The vision for the next five years is a vision that they want to implement in the next couple of years with surgeries every single month. Within the next five years, their vision is to have a local team based in Fiji that can do the work or at least do more straightforward surgeries. 

“We get our highs when we get positive feedback.” Dr Krupali Tappoo

They envision becoming the most important Pediatric Cardiac Care Centre for Fiji and the South Pacific and they are a children’s hospital and would like to remain that with a focus on pediatric cardiac care. 

They would also have a screening program based in schools and in the community where they will be doing widespread screening for children with congenital heart disease.

Terms of what keeps them going are their vision that they want to help the children of Fiji and the South Pacific, and they can relate to it profoundly because they are parents. 

“For a young Foundation like ours to make a significant impact upon the people of Fiji is only due to the grace of the Divine. The words and teachings of our inspirational master, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, “Love all, Serve all, help ever, hurt never” and “Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray”, these are at the very core of our foundation’s values,” the Chairman Mahendra Tappoo adds. 

Dr Krupali Tappoo also feels that it is very important to put oneself in their shoes, “Like if I have a child and I couldn't afford to have my child operated and if my child died, how would I feel? I think just seeing that there are so many people suffering and that we are in a privileged position.”

The compassion and care that brings smiles to these children's faces are precious and at the end of the day keep them going. 

You can also do your bit. Every contribution helps even the smallest donation will help to save life.

Your small contribution can go a long way in saving a young child. So, are you that person who will give up your second cup of coffee and donate that amount to give that child his gift of life?

By Tonee & Nandita 

For more info or to donate visit: www.saipremafiji.com