Children from Tibet autonomous region receive free heart disease treatment in Beijing. Photos by Jiang Dong / China Daily

Youngsters, aged from 5 to 16, play and draw at Beijing Huaxin Hospital.

An initiative by Beijing Huaxin Hospital and some non-profit organizations provides diagnosis and operations to kids with congenital heart defects in Tibet. Liu Zhihua reports.

Renchen Wangmo, a 9-year-old Tibetan girl, plays with a balloon in a well-lit corridor of Beijing Huaxin Hospital, several thousands of kilometers from her home in Mali village, Gerze county, Ngari prefecture, Tibet autonomous region.

There are a dozen kids playing or drawing pictures with Renchen Wangmo, all from the same county, also heart patients at the hospital.

It is the first time the 5-16 year olds with heart problems - mostly atrial septal defects and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) - have visited the capital.

They come to get free treatment for their congenital heart defects, supported by the hospital and some non-profit organizations.

"Kids on the plateau suffer from a higher incidence rate of congenital heart defects," reports Chen Guoliang, a cardiac surgeon at the hospital.

"They will die early if the defect is severe, and only those with mild congenital heart defects can live beyond 3 years old. But for those who live, life quality will be affected."

Red Cross statistics show the rate of congenital heart defects is about two to three times higher in Ngari prefecture than that of interior regions in the country.

The organization estimates that Tibet has about 8,000 kids suffering from heart diseases, and Ngari prefecture has about 500 to 800.

However, in the poor and sparsely populated area, medical care is limited and early diagnosis of the condition is rare.

Ba is a 12-year-old girl with PDA, which makes it hard for her to breathe and leads to frequent dizzy spells.

"She often told us she felt bad, but we could do nothing," says Sengdo, Ba's father.

The family lives in a village about 200 km away from the nearest hospital, with the only transport options being tractors, motorbikes and horses, taking two days and costing about 200 yuan ($31.30) - which is a big burden for the family.

When Ba was 3 years old, the village doctor prescribed medication and intravenous drips, although he did not know what he was treating.

When she was 8, doctors in the nearby township determined there was something wrong with her heart, but could not offer a diagnosis.

"An accurate diagnosis of PDA usually requires echocardiography, or a chest X-ray," says Chen Guoliang at Beijing Huaxin Hospital, also known as the First Affiliated Hospital of Tsinghua University.

Earlier this year, soon after the Spring Festival in February, parents living in Gerze county heard doctors from Chengdu, Sichuan province, and Beijing would arrive to give every child a free examination to determine if they had a heart problem and offer free treatment.

From March 9-29, 3,726 children received stethoscope examinations, and 500 were suspected of having heart problems.

On June 3, Chen Guoliang and Cui Jian, two heart disease specialists at Huaxin Hospital arrived with an echocardiography machine.

They went from school to school and after a week diagnosed 15 kids with heart problems.

The hospital and cooperating organizations offered to treat the children without charge, provide traveling expenses, free board and lodging to the patient and a family member, if they decided to receive treatment at Huaxin Hospital.

The cost of the simplest heart operation at the hospital is 10,000 yuan ($1,565), too much for most of the families who live in Gerze county.

"I'm very happy my brother was saved. I cannot express my gratitude," says Karma Pasang, brother of a 9-year-old boy who recently underwent an operation.

"It is like he has been given a second life, which we would not have been able to afford."