The Taiz transplant team looking to begin a medical revolution in Yemen

A young girl lies in a hospital bed in Taiz, southwest Yemen , recovering from surgery to treat her atrial septal defect (ASD), better known as “hole in the heart”.

“May I take a picture of you?” a visitor asks. She smiles, slowly adjusts her position, and gets ready for the photo.

Ten-year-old Noor Majid has had ASD since birth. Her condition leads to constant breathing problems and chronic exhaustion. It is hoped the surgery will help her live a life similar to that of other girls her age.

Noor was one of 110 children from different parts of Yemen being treated for free at the Cardiac and Vascular Diseases and Kidney Transplant Center in Taiz between May 16 and 21.

The Catheterization and Complex Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Camp, which undertook the treatment, is a multi-national effort, involving medical teams from across the world and supported by the Qatar Charity and the Qatar Red Crescent.

Surgeries on the children were performed by Qatari, Arab and French doctors from Qatar’s Sidra Medicine, one of the world’s leading cardiology hospitals, with the input of consultant doctors from across Yemen.

Professor Abudar al-Ganadi, who has headed the Cardiac and Vascular Diseases and Kidney Transplant Center since it was founded in Taiz in July 2021, told Al Jazeera that the camp marks a major accomplishment for the medical sector in Yemen.

“This is the largest medical camp in the country where complex operations of this kind are performed in this number and within such a critical period of time,” he said.