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CHDs are America’s number one birth defect, affecting nearly one out of every 100 births, or 40,000 babies a year.

CHDs are responsible for one third of all birth defect related deaths, making CHD the number one cause of birth defect related deaths.

More than 91,000 life years are lost each year in the United States because of CHDs.

More than 50 percent of all children born with CHD will require a least one invasive surgery in their lifetime. Twenty percent of these children will not survive past their first year of life!

The cost for surgery alone exceeds $2.2 billion a year

Congenital heart defect research is vital.
How does CHF make a difference?

CHD research is grossly under funded. Pediatric cancer research is five times higher than CHD research although twice as many children die from CHD each year in the United States than from all forms of childhood cancer combined.

The American Heart Association directs only $0.30 of every dollar donated toward research. The remainder goes toward administration, education and fundraising efforts. Of the $0.30 that goes toward research only one penny goes toward pediatric cardiology for CHD.

Similarly, for every dollar provided by the National Institute of Health, only one penny is allocated toward pediatric research. This means that only a fraction of that one penny will be directed towards CHD research.

CHF is the only organization that strictly funds CHD research. We have funded 30 research projects with more than $2.5 million. Last year, we funded seven projects with more than $400,000!

Research has already made a difference in the lives of thousands of children and their families. In the last decade, death rates for CHDs have declined by almost 30 percent because of the advances made through research. As more children's heart abnormalities are treated, research is needed to meet the needs of CHD patients as they reach adulthood.
 

Why does what we do make a difference?
 

CHF is not affiliated with any one medical institution or organization. This allows our funds to be allocated to the most promising research worldwide.

Our Medical Advisory Board takes great care in its recommendations and uses a strict scoring system so that the research we fund is the most relevant. The system works so well that our researchers have received more than $13 million in NIH support.

CHF has only three paid staff members. The rest of our work is completed through the passion and dedication of our volunteers. This allows us to allocate as much money to research as possible.

It is our top priority to connect the money we raise to the research that will make an impact on children with CHD. Money raised in any one calendar year funds research that same year.

If you would like to help us in the fight against congenital heart defects, please click here to find out what you can do.
 

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