Hearts for Mission International was formed in 2023 by a group of healthcare personnel with a vision to bring heart surgery to Malawi. Malawi is a small, poor, land-locked developing country at the end of the Rift Valley in southeastern Africa that shares borders with Mozambique, Zambia, and Tanzania. There is currently no advanced cardiology procedures nor open heart surgery available in Malawi. Malawi, like multiple other small, poor sub-Saharan countries that have no training programs nor facilities for some types of health care has a small budget to send citizens that otherwise do not have cash or private healthcare insurance outside of the country for their care, but the wait list tends to extend for months to years. Sadly, some die from their heart condition while still on the wait list.

While the ultimate goal of our group is to build, equip, and staff a full heart center with a cardiology catheterization lab and 2 operating rooms, the first step was to coordinate a short- term trip to perform a few surgeries for those who are suffering and have no other option. The primary clinical focus of the team is valve replacement in relatively young people with severe rheumatic valve disease ages 16 to 35.

The first trip was in November 2023 where the team performed 2 pacemaker procedures and 7 open heart surgeries – mechanical valve replacement. There were no major complications and the patients were all doing well at their 1 month post-op checkup! 

Short-term Trips / Camps

The first step to building capacity for Cardiothoracic surgery in Africa is a mixed specialty team of professionals doing surgery to repair congenital hearts, also known as “Heart Surgery Camps”.

1. This would entail the establishment of a referral program for patients which fit the parameters necessary for safe and long-term success and excellent patient outcomes. These patients would get the surgery and after care at no personal cost.

2. Bringing a team of volunteer Surgeons, Cardiologists, Perfusionists and Nurses to work along side Malawians to give surgical care as a 3-week effort. These efforts would be done up to twice per year for the next 3 years at Blantyre Adventist Hospital.

3. Surgery would be done on the first 2 weeks, but the cardiology team would remain to assist in any eventual complications for an additional week.