About WHF

Mission
The mission of the World Heart Foundation is to decrease the global inequity in the delivery of high-quality health care by improving the access that the underserved have to cardiac surgery. Its initial efforts focus on, but are not limited to, providing heart surgery to the children and young adults suffering from congenital heart anomalies in developing countries.

Structure and Governance
The World Heart Foundation, established in 1999, is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Its leadership consists of an international assemblage of eminent cardiothoracic surgeons. Officers, including a A Chief Executive Officer, a President, an Executive Director, a Board of Directors, and an International Advisory Board manage the Foundation. It maintains close affiliations with the medical professional societies that represent the cardiothoracic surgery specialty and with humanitarian organizations that aid in the delivery of heart surgery to those in need.

Activities
The Foundation is accomplishing its mission through the following activities:

• The coordination of the efforts of a network of affiliated humanitarian organizations, volunteer professionals, health care and industry partners, and institutions at the point of care to deliver resources and volunteer teams of medical professionals when and where they are needed. To improve the efficacy of this approach, the World Heart Foundation plans to establish regional hubs to serve as treatment centers.
• The education and training of medical trainees and practitioners throughout the world.
• The fostering of a spirit of concern, community, and activism in medical trainees and practitioners that will lead to lifelong service.
• The provision of funding opportunities for affiliated humanitarian organizations.
• The development of a community of practice in which medical professionals who volunteer can develop, learn, and discuss the best practices involved in delivering care in different cultural and health care environments. This community is served through in-person meetings and through collaborative Internet-based tools.

For more information on these goals and strategies, see World Heart Foundation: Our Approach to Improving Cardiac Surgical Services in Developing Countries.

About this Website
The goal of this website is to support the activities and mission of the World Heart Foundation by providing information and collaborative tools for the people who support and participate in humanitarian activities in the cardiac surgery field. It showcases the publications and humanitarian efforts of its affiliated humanitarian organizations and provides a gateway into the surgical content provided by CTSNet, which serves as an information resource for cardiothoracic surgeons worldwide.