Month: November 2023

The only major advance in children’s healthcare in 2023 is the June 1 opening of the newly built high-tech maternal and child health clinic “Mom and Me.” The hospital is overcrowded. Many people are talking, only we are showing up in person and treating the worst cases.

Designed, built and developed with the most advanced medical expertise – without a penny of state investment and without any support from philanthropic campaigns – the “phenomenon” of “Mommy and Me” is now unfolding the front against infant mortality and disability of children and adolescents in Bulgaria. With or without protests or with donation campaigns, initiatives, networks, associations or public councils, nothing else really happens. Even hot water and electricity are not available in some individual.

Every day many parents raise funds through TV shows, social networks and foundations for the treatment of their children abroad. Some manage to meet the high costs, most never. And why don’t we in Bulgaria develop our own network for paediatric help and care with world-leading expertise and make it accessible to all? N a t i o n a l Children’s Hospital. And there won’t be one any time soon, because after the Mum and Me project in Sofia 20 months ago brought together doctors and patient organisations, the state got around to choosing the site. The interests of politicians and parents still diverge. So we took the development into our own hands. Foreign experience is a guide even for our modest scale – a closer and some unattainable example:
– Over 40 million euros have been raised from donations (350 thousand individuals and over 8 thousand companies) in Romania for a specialised children’s oncology hospital with 187 beds. The project has been completed in four years and the facility is now operational.
– More than 850 million Swiss francs have been raised by the private Eleonore Foundation in Zurich for a 230-bed children’s hospital that will open at the end of 2024. The hospital is neither state-owned nor belongs to the cantonal university hospital.

It is therefore time to move to direct donation to raise our national expertise to a world-class level and cover the whole territory of the country.

Donate now!
We only accept named donations, transparently, by bank and electronic transfer only – with full accountability to donors.

Appointment for the committee is available at: 056703003′ after referral by an outpatient neurologist

In the Clinic of Nervous Diseases at ‘Heart and Brain’ Burgas, a specialized commission has been opened for expert activity and treatment of patients with multiple sclerosis under the program of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) / Outpatient Procedure №38/. Such a commission is organized for the first time on the territory of Burgas. It will enable multiple sclerosis patients from the city and the region to be provided with expert opinions and medication protocols without having to travel to remote centers in Sofia, Varna or Plovdiv.

The chairman of the committee is Prof. Dr. Ivan Dimitrov, PhD, an expert with many years of experience in the field, and the members are neurologists with training in the country and abroad. Registration for the committee is available at tel. 056703003′ after referral by an outpatient neurologist.

The Nerve Disease Clinic at ‘Heart and Brain’ offers comprehensive medical care for patients – diagnosis of the disease, treatment for acute attack and follow-up. It has a contract with the National Health Insurance Fund to work on Clinical Pathway 61 – ‘Diagnosis and treatment of multiple sclerosis’. Modern equipment for MRI, evoked potentials and clinical laboratory, possibilities for neurorehabilitation, including inpatient.

With satisfaction from the care provided to 176 newborns since the beginning of June and a thematic corner capturing moments from their professional life, the Neonatology Department of the Maternal and Child Health Clinic ‘Mama and I’ in Pleven celebrates November 17 – World Prematurity Day. Since the beginning of the week, the team has been welcoming colleagues and parents of babies in their care in purple – the colour of the cause of premature babies around the world.

“On November 17, we celebrate the littlest heroes, those tiniest and most struggling children. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the issue and encourage expressions of empathy for premature babies and their families. The neonatology department of ‘Mama and I’ has the highest – 3rd – level of competence, and here we take the first care of all newborn children. The equipment we work with allows us to provide adequate care for the newborn, including the extremely immature children weighing less than 1000 grams,” says Dr. Andrey Hristov, Head of Neonatology at ‘Mama and I’. He and his colleagues take care of the most severe cases of newborns around the clock, reaching the families in need and other paediatric clinics thanks to a specialized ambulance – a resuscitation vehicle with an intensive transport cuvee and respirator. “We also have the region’s most advanced and only specialized artificial pulmonary ventilation equipment for premature and preterm newborns with critically affected respiratory and cardiovascular function. In the Intensive Care Unit we admit all sick newborns requiring intensive care, ventilator monitoring and intensive treatment. The availability of a state-of-the-art cuvee, the “baby leo 500″, gives even the most immature patients a chance. And last but not least, the multidisciplinary teams working in the field of maternal and child healthcare and neonatal care at ‘Mama and I’,” says Dr. Hristov.

Every 10 seconds, two people get diabetes and one person dies from the disease. In Bulgaria, according to statistics, about 500,000 people suffer from diabetes, and 40 per cent of them do not know and are diagnosed too late. Regular self-monitoring is what reduces the complications of diabetes by 35%. That is why it is especially important to have preventive checkups with an endocrinologist, and for patients diagnosed with the disease – periodic checkups with a specialist – endocrinologist are imperative at least once every 6 months and even more often”, advises Dr. Silvia Ganeva, Head of the Endocrinology Department at ‘Heart and Brain’, Pleven. The high-tech hospital is celebrating World Diabetes Day, November 14, with a Diabetes School “How to live with diabetes mellitus”.

“For four weeks, diabetics and their loved ones had the opportunity to meet and talk with the hospital’s endocrinologists. The educational lectures and hands-on activities covered several main topics: ‘What is diabetes’, ‘How diabetes works, chronic complications’, ‘Diet or just healthy eating combined with an active lifestyle’ and ‘Modern treatment options for diabetes mellitus’. The aim is to be useful to people with the knowledge and experience we have, as well as with tips for a healthy lifestyle, prevention and early diagnosis of the disease,” says Dr Ganeva. She points out that there is a genetic predisposition to develop diabetes mellitus in many families, but the main risk factors are excess body weight, low physical activity, overnutrition and chronic stress. In the presence of first-degree relatives with diabetes mellitus, prevention, early diagnosis of the disease and timely treatment are very important to avoid the development of chronic complications. It is the chronic complications such as stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease and chronic thrombosis of the lower limb arteries that cause earlier and higher mortality among diabetic patients compared to other population groups.

“Today, health professionals, patient and community organizations are making a concerted effort in developing strategies for screening, prevention, early treatment and control of those with diabetes mellitus. The main goal is to improve the medical and social care of people suffering from this chronic disease and to reduce the societal costs of treating the clinically manifest complications”, said the Heart and Brain, Pleven.

Every year, the World Health Community marks 14 November as a day to fight diabetes, a chronic disease that occurs with elevated blood glucose levels. It has been identified as socially significant due to the high frequency with which it occurs. The day was first celebrated in 1991 under the auspices of the WHO, and in 2007, by a special resolution, 14 November was officially recognised by the United Nations. The choice of date is linked to the birthday of Frederick Bunting, who together with Charles Best made the epoch-making discovery in the treatment of diabetes mellitus – insulin.

A rheumatology consultation service, where modern diagnostics and treatment is carried out, is now available to patients in ‘Heart and Brain’ Pleven. The consultation is open every Tuesday and Wednesday from 09:00 to 12:00, the rheumatology clinic informed. Examinations and consultations are carried out by Dr Nikolov after an appointment.

More information about Dr. Martin Nikolov can be found here.

The Vascular Surgery Clinic of the high-tech ‘Heart and Brain’ Pleven celebrates its sixth anniversary. The bottom line is nearly 10 000 patients treated, more than 7 100 surgical interventions performed and a place among the three best vascular clinics in the country.

“We have extremely committed and dedicated doctors, nurses and staff who care for patients. Forming and stabilizing a vascular surgery clinic takes time. Over these six years, dozens of young colleagues – the next generation of vascular surgeons – have been trained at , Heart and Brain. Together we have walked this path and today we deservedly are one of the best clinics in the country”, says Dr. Todor Samardzhiev, head of the clinic. He is convinced that a good name is built not only with daily work, but also with constant upgrading of experience and knowledge.

In addition to excellent specialists, the clinic has one of the best facilities in the country, which is in no way inferior to the best clinics in the world. Patients have at their disposal all modern possibilities for diagnosis and surgical interventions of vascular diseases – open surgery, endovascular interventions and conservative treatment.

A team for endovascular surgery has been formed under Dr. Samardzhiev’s leadership – the preferred method of work of modern specialists due to the possibility of applying sparing, bloodless manipulations and faster recovery of patients. Prevention of diabetic foot complications by endovascular procedure prevents and postpones amputations of fingers and limbs in time. The combination of the different treatment approaches guides the team’s work and achieves long-term improvements in patients’ health and lives.