BIOTRONIK and Heartbeat International Foundation collaborate to drive positive change
BERLIN, Germany, Wednesday, December 22nd 2010 [ME NewsWire]:
(BUSINESS WIRE)-- BIOTRONIK SE Co. & KG, a leading manufacturer of implantable cardiac devices, announced today an important achievement in their partnership with Heartbeat International Foundation (HBI): the implantation of a donated cardiac device to save the life of Yuleisy Daniela Banos Peraldo, a seven-year old girl from Ecuador.
The implantation was performed after a replacement mitral valve procedure at the children’s hospital Baca Ortiz by Dr. Gerardo Davalos of “Fundacion Banco de Marcapasos“. The young patient has nicely recovered from the procedure and has been able to return home with her family.
"Without the cardiac device from BIOTRONIK, sweet little Yuleisy would not have been able to live her life the way a child should, with freedom, fun, fearlessness and joy. Her condition would have continued to deteriorate significantly until her life was compromised," said Dr. Attilio Birga, Chairman of Heartbeat International Ecuador. "Thanks to the collaboration with companies like BIOTRONIK to provide free life-saving therapies to heart patients in need, others like Yuleisy are given new hope for a healthy life and a future of possibilities."
There are one million - and possibly as many as three million - people each year that will die because they cannot afford to get a cardiac device. HBI, a charitable, non-profit organization based in the United States, and BIOTRONIK have partnered together to start bringing those numbers down. BIOTRONIK donates devices to HBI who then conducts the planning and oversees the network that gets the devices to the physicians who can perform the implantation procedures.
“HBI’s commitment to saving lives in developing countries goes hand in hand with BIOTRONIK’s determination to ensure patients in need have access to quality life-saving cardiac devices regardless of economic or social status,” said Marlou Janssen, Global Vice President of Marketing and Sales at BIOTRONIK. “We are proud to be a part of HBI’s team and we intend to continue to support the foundation’s admirable efforts by aiming toward a goal of helping over a thousand needy heart patients with BIOTRONIK devices within the next 3 years”.
About BIOTRONIK
As one of the world’s leading cardiovascular medical device companies, with several million implanted devices, BIOTRONIK is represented in over 100 countries with its global workforce of more than 5,600 employees. Known for having its fingers on the pulse of the medical community, BIOTRONIK assesses the challenges physicians face and provides the best solutions for all phases of patient care, ranging from diagnosis and treatment to patient management. Quality, innovation and clinical excellence define BIOTRONIK and its growing success—and deliver confidence and peace of mind to physicians and their patients worldwide.
www.biotronik.com
About Heartbeat International Foundation, Inc.
Heartbeat International Foundation (HBI) is a charitable nonprofit foundation and a member of the Independent Charities of America. HBI’s mission is to save lives globally by providing cardiovascular implantable devices and treatment to the needy people of the world, free of charge. HBI receives its donated devices directly from the medical device manufacturers then distributes them through its network of global Heart Centers. An estimated 1 to 3 million people die annually because they cannot afford a lifesaving pacemaker operation and this problem will only increase as cardiovascular disease continues to rise in developing countries.
www.heartbeatsaveslives.com
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For media enquiries, please contact:
BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG
Sandy Hathaway
Senior Director, Global Communications
Tel. +49 (0) 30 68905 1602
Email: sandy.hathaway@biotronik.com
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