Chinese Doctors Perform Free Life-Saving Heart Surgeries for Kyrgyz Children

Director of the Kyrgyz Heart Protection Charitable Foundation Aibulak Zhumak has said that children in Kyrgyzstan born with heart defects are receiving free, life-changing surgeries thanks to a joint medical initiative with China.

This marks the third year in a row that Chinese cardiovascular specialists have come to Kyrgyzstan to help young patients - and the impact keeps growing, The Caspian Post informs via Kyrgyz media.

The Heart Protection Foundation itself launched in 2023, and the collaboration has expanded rapidly since then.

Zhumak recalls how the project began:

"In 2023, since Kyrgyzstan did not have the necessary facilities, we took eight children to China, where they received free surgeries. Then, rather than take the children and their parents to another country, we decided to invite Chinese doctors here in Kyrgyzstan and perform the surgeries jointly with Kyrgyz specialists… Therefore, in 2024, we began inviting doctors from China. Last year, we operated on five children, and everything was successful. This year, on November 19th, we performed surgeries on six small children and one 20-year-old girl," she said.

The Foundation stresses that the surgeries are not the work of Chinese specialists alone - they are done together with Kyrgyz doctors, helping strengthen professional cooperation and medical expertise on both sides.

Chinese cardiologist Liu Wei, visiting Kyrgyzstan for the first time, said he was responsible for open-heart procedures.

"We examined 20 children and made diagnoses. We selected seven for surgery, and the results are good. In addition, there are three more children who require open surgery… We plan to bring them to China for open surgeries," he said.

Liu Wei added that some conditions found in Kyrgyz children are rare even in China, and that local hospitals face equipment shortages.

"These aren't just common heart defects… the usual equipment isn't available here; many instruments are missing. But, by consulting with Kyrgyz doctors, we found solutions and achieved good results," he noted.