US Heart Specialist Treats Children in War-Torn Libya

Yazan is a one-year-old heart disease patient in Libya. He was born with only one of the usual four chambers¹, or main parts, of the human heart. His heart pumped so little blood that when Yazan cried, his skin would turn black. He required an operation to survive. But Libya only has one doctor that does such operations on young children.

About 1,200 babies with heart defects are born in Libya every year. Usually, about 150 of them are in urgent need of heart operations. Most do not get them and they die in their first year, said William Novick, a children's heart doctor from the United States.

"To me this is simply an unacceptable situation that needs our attention," said Novick.

Novick leads an international team of experts called the Novick Cardiac Alliance². They travel to Libya often to perform operations on patients like Yazan.

Libya has been in major disorder³ since 2011, when opposition⁴ forces ousted⁵ long-time leader Muammar Gadhafi. Armed conflict continues in the country with foreign countries supporting opposing armed groups. The latest fighting began last spring and has killed hundreds of civilians⁶.

The conflict also has severely⁷ affected⁸ health care in the country. The World Health Organization describes the Libyan health care system as overworked, unproductive and lacking in medicine and equipment.

Novick's team was the best, and perhaps last, hope for Yazan. For treatment, however, the boy and his family had to travel to the most dangerous place in Libya, its capital Tripoli.

Last month, Yazan and his family arrived in the city after a 1,500 kilometer trip from their home in the desert. On February 26, Yazan had a five-hour operation to begin repair on his heart. It went well. Although Yazan will need one more operation, Novick and his team expect him to fully⁹ recover.

Novick's group has treated 1,000 children in Libya since it began treatments there in 2012.

But his Cardiac Alliance was born much earlier.

Novick was a medical student at the University of Alabama when he first witnessed the suffering of children born with heart disease. He also learned about the problems families experience trying to get care for their children. He decided¹⁰ then to work to help children with heart problems no matter where they are born.

For nearly 30 years, Novick and his partners have made hundreds of trips to 32 countries including Ukraine, Nigeria, Iraq, Iran and Colombia.

For the February visit to Libya, Novick's team included 20 volunteer doctors and nurses. The team performed 10 difficult open-heart operations in the country's west.

The team worked in areas controlled by each of the two main armed groups.

Novick said that a main goal of his group is "to be apolitical and help the children."

Novick's group also trains Libyan doctors and nurses to develop the country's health care system.

He said, "We're not going to be here forever and we shouldn't be here forever."

Words in This Story

defect – n. a physical problem that causes something to be less valuable, effective, healthy, etc.

1 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

2 alliance   

n.同盟，同盟国，结盟，联姻

参考例句：

• China will not enter into alliance with any big power.中国不同任何大国结盟。
• The new alliance was very much in evidence.新的联盟上星期很引人注目。

3 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

7 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。