The evidence
The gap between medical possibility and reality.
Congenital heart defects are not rare and not untreatable. They are an equity issue — and the geography of a child’s birth still determines whether they live.
Ways to make an impact
Your support takes the form that fits you best.
1M
Children born with CHD globally each year
80%
Of CHD deaths occur in low/middle-income countries
90%
Survival rate in high-income settings with timely care
The Nigerian reality
A diagnosis becomes a debt sentence.
An estimated tens of thousands of Nigerian children are born with CHD each year. Diagnostic capacity is concentrated in a handful of urban centres. A single open-heart surgical case can exceed multiple years of household income. Bespoke paediatric cardiac medications are often unobtainable through standard pharmacy channels.
The result is a quiet, distributed tragedy: children who could have lived ordinary lives are lost to a treatable condition because no one walked their family through the system in time.
The four gaps
Where the system fails at every stage.
Diagnosis gap
Limited paediatric echocardiography across most of Nigeria delays diagnosis until the child is critically ill.
Specialist access gap
Specialist paediatric cardiac services cluster in a handful of cities, beyond the reach of most families.
Treatment gap
Open-heart surgery and bespoke medications are catastrophic costs for most Nigerian households.
Family recovery gap
Caregivers — particularly mothers — carry sustained trauma with no structured psychosocial support.
Why now
A convergence of advocacy, donor readiness, and local capability.
For the first time, paediatric cardiac advocacy, international donor interest, and local Nigerian medical and partner readiness are aligned. OHHI is positioned as the bridge organisation to translate that alignment into outcomes.
The evidence
The gap between medical possibility and reality.
Congenital heart defects are not rare and not untreatable. They are an equity issue — and the geography of a child’s birth still determines whether they live.