Aishwarya Trust celebrates its 12th Annual Day at MGM Healthcare

Aishwarya Trust celebrated its 12^th Annual Day today at MGM Healthcare. Mr. N Murali, Chairman, Kasturi & Sons Limited and President of The Music Academy, was the Chief Guest. Mr. Subrata Roy, Head – CSR of HDFC Life was the Guest of Honour.

The Annual Day affords an opportunity for Aishwarya Trust’s Donors and Well-wishers to interact with some of its beneficiaries (the brave heart children who survived CHD) and doctors. “On this day, we rededicate ourselves to our mission of saving young lives born with CHD, through early detection and treatment. It is also an occasion for us to thank our Donors for their generous contributions, the team of Doctors for their selfless service and our partner hospital MGM for their wholehearted support” remarked Ms. Chitra Viswanathan, Managing Trustee of Aishwarya Trust.

Lauding Aishwarya Trust for its efforts in combating infant mortality due to CHD, Mr. N Murali, the Chief Guest at the Annual Day, said “In a little over a decade of its founding, Aishwarya Trust, with Mrs Chitra Viswanathan as it’s driving force, has rendered selfless, yeoman service by organising and enabling lifesaving interventions for thousands of under privileged children suffering from congenital heart diseases”.

Mr. Subrato Roy, while reaffirming HDFC Life’s continued support to Aishwarya Trust, said on the occasion “At HDFC Life, we strive to make the maximum possible difference as we identify and execute our CSR initiatives. We are proud to associate with Aishwarya Trust to provide support to children suffering from congenital heart defects through a comprehensive program of screening, treatment and review in Tamil Nadu”.

Dr. Prashanth Rajagopalan, Director at MGM Healthcare, mentioned “We are extremely honored to associate with Aishwarya Trust, who has taken the initiative of saving many lives of underprivileged children affected by Congenital Heart Disease. Together, we are committed to saving young lives by providing excellence in Pediatric Heart Care.”

DR. K. R. Balakrishnan, Chairman  & Director of Cardiac Sciences and Director of the Heart and Lung Transplant Program MGM Healthcare said “Aishwarya trust is doing a tremendous service to society by helping underprivileged children. They have helped hundreds of children who are affected by Congenital Heart Disease. Everyone in this industry should take responsibility to spread awareness among people on CHD and support children with severe heart diseases.  We are glad to be part of this remarkable service and we wish Aishwarya Trust all the very best”.

In 2019, Aishwarya Trust supported the surgical treatment of 502 children with CHD, including 21 transplants. Almost all of its beneficiaries are from the underprivileged sections of the society and largely from small towns & villages.

Aishwarya Trust’s near-term goal is to support 20,000 screenings, 1000 surgeries and 50 heart transplants in a year.

About Aishwarya Trust

Aishwarya Trust (AT), a registered charitable NGO, was established in 2008 with the sole mission of funding and enabling lifesaving surgeries of under privileged children suffering from Congenital Heart Defects (CHD).

CHD (also known as Blue Baby Syndrome) is one of the most common birth defects, affecting about 8 of every 1000 children born and is also one of the leading causes of infant mortality. It is a problem, from birth, with the structure of the heart that disrupts the flow of blood through the heart and if untreated early on, can lead to death.

Aishwarya Trust’s CHD Program is comprehensive in its coverage, from screening to diagnosis to surgical intervention and review. It works with Govt of TN, under the auspices of the RBSK Program of Rural Health Mission, for screening children, for CHD, at Govt. Medical College hospitals. It works with MGM Hospital Chennai and a dedicated team of doctors led by Dr. KR Balakrishnan for diagnosis & treatment (including heart transplant in exceptional cases). And it is ably supported, in its mission, by a set of generous and committed Donors like HDFC Life, Terumo and HT Parekh Foundation.

Since inception, Aishwarya Trust has helped screen more than 180,000 children for CHD and enabled the surgical treatment of more than 3,800 needy children afflicted by CHD, including about 90 heart transplants. AT spends less than 5% of its funds on administrative costs, thereby ensuring donors’ monies are almost entirely spent on beneficiaries.