South Sudanese children wait to board their flight at Bole International Airport on their way to Israel, 24th July 2024. (Photo: Israel in South Sudan/Facebook).

An Israeli medical charity, Save A Child’s Heart has airlifted six more South Sudanese children to Tel Aviv for life-saving heart operations.

The children, between the ages of one and 12 years left Juba on Wednesday, accompanied by four mothers and a nurse.

This brings the total to 21, of children taken to Israel for specialized heart surgery since 2023. The program was interrupted by the outbreak of the coronavirus but it resumed last year.

Dr. Amanda Madison is a paediatrician at Al Sabah Children’s Hospital and a coordinator of Save a Child’s Heart in South Sudan.

She said an additional seven children suffering from a similar condition are expected to be airlifted for treatment in Israel in the coming days.

“In January another ten followed then now six are going and we are still having seven children waiting to go,” Amanda said.

“There are six children, four mothers and a nurse. The youngest is one year, six months and oldest is 12 years and those who are younger then eight years they are accompanied by their mothers.”

In April, ten South Sudanese children with similar conditions were returned to Juba after successful heart surgeries.

The program is part of the partnership between Israel and the government of South Sudan which began in 2018, involving identification, screening and evacuation of children suffering from heart for operation.

In June, an official at the Ministry of Health expressed concern over the alarming cases of heart disease among children going for screening at Al Sabah Children’s Hospital in Juba.