SACH team heads to China for surgical and training mission

An Israeli medical organization renowned for enabling and performing heart surgery on thousands of children around the world will head to China on Sunday for a training and surgical mission.

The Save A Child's Heart medical team, comprising 15 members, said it would try to treat as many children as possible during its stay in China.

This is SACH's eighth mission to China, where Israeli medics working alongside Chinese colleagues have performed surgery on more than 100 children.

During the mission, team surgeon Dr. Lior Sasson - who heads the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department at the Wolfson Medical Center - will workd at the Hebei Children's hospital alongside Dr. Han Jiangang, a surgeon trained in Israel last year.

A filming crew will accompany the team to document the week of events.

SACH has so far trained six Chinese doctors and eight Chinese nurses in Israel, and hundreds of others during missions to China.

Already in China, word has spread about the event, prompting hundreds to travel by foot, bicycle and train hoping to benefit from the surgical mission, according to SACH.

A photo exhibit will be put on display in Hebei, and perhaps later in Beijing, as a joint project of Israel's Foreign Ministry and SACH. The exhibit will eventually be shown in the U.S.A, Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia and other parts of Asia as well.

The exhibit, featuring the work of seven photographers, shows pictures of children from around the world who have all been treated by the SACH medical team.

The group has sponsored operations on more than 2,000 children since its founding in 1996.

Almost half of them were Palestinians or from neighboring Arab countries, including Jordan and Iraq, the group said. At least 130 of those surgeries were performed overseas alongside local personnel.