At least 20 children with life-threatening heart conditions are set to benefit from a two-week operation exercise conducted by international surgeons and their Rwandan counterparts.A team of 37 Australian medics from Open-Heart International, in conjunction with King Faisal Hospital, Rwanda, will operate on children with congenital heart defects and rheumatic heart disease.Russell Lee, the project coordinator of Open-Heart International and team leader of the medical volunteers in the country, said they chose to offer a service that is not available in the country, as well as to share knowledge and skills with local surgeons."Our goal is not only to share knowledge but also give the children a normal and longer life. I dream to see Rwanda with a self-sustaining, comprehensive cardiovascular programme, with the capacity to independently provide cardiac surgery and pre-operative care,” Lee said.He said the operation will benefit children aged two months to 15 years.Dr Joseph Mucumbitsi, a pediatric cardiologist at King Faisal Hospital, said rheumatic heart disease is an acquired cardiac condition that can arise from untreated number of complications."It is often considered a disease associated with poverty and childhood, where there is lack of access to adequate medical facilities and care and it is largely preventable,” said Dr Mucumbitsi.The cardiologist said 70 per cent of heart diseases in children are congenital defects and the remaining conditions are rheumatic heart diseases.Dr Mucumbitsi said the operations are free of charge but patients will only have to pay for hospitalisation and other investigations."Even on hospitalisation, they will be allowed to use Mutuelle de Santé (medical insurance). We are still selecting the children to benefit from the surgical exercise, especially those whose conditions can be cured by operation. Operations will begin tomorrow (today) and last for seven days,” Mucumbitsi said.Local pictureIn Rwanda, there are only four cardiologists (two pediatric and two adult) active in the public sector, and while candidates are currently being identified to pursue advanced cardiology and cardiac surgery training, it will be three-to-five years before they start practicing.A statement from the Australian High Commission to Rwanda, based in Nairobi, said Geoffrey Tooth, the envoy, will be in the country next week to witness the operations by the team.The statement said the project has been part funded by a grant from the Direct Aid Programme of the Australian High Commission, as currently there is no facility in Rwanda that can provide this service to the community.This is the second pediatric cardiology surgical operation to be held in the country, after a previous one conducted by Belgian surgeons dubbed, "Chain of Hope.”