ASTANA – The annual charity run – festival titled Zhuregimnin zhenimpazy (You are the champion of my heart) took place in the Kazakh capital on Aug. 11, bringing together 4,200 participants.
Around 4,200 people took part in the charity run. Photo credit: Heart Center Foundation
The annual run is held in honor of a significant date — the first successful heart transplant in Kazakhstan, which took place on Aug. 8, 2012. The charity event once again emphasized the importance of transplantation in Kazakhstan and drew public attention to the issue of organ transplantation.
“Transplantology, unfortunately, often remains in the shadows, and many of us do not think about how it can affect us or our loved ones. In Kazakhstan, as of May, 4,099 people are on the organ transplant waiting list, of which 144 people are waiting for hearts. Since 2012, only 97 heart transplants have been performed. These figures should make each of us think about the importance of donation,” said Murat Zaurov, director of the Heart Center Foundation.
All funds raised during the race will be used to implement and finance projects within the framework of the memorandum between the Heart Center Foundation and the Republican Center for Coordination of Transplantation. They will also be used in educational programs and master classes for transplantology specialists from Kazakhstan’s regions and in the Heart Center Foundation’s educational activities.
The Heart Center Foundation is Kazakhstan’s first endowment fund implementing healthcare projects. The foundation implements and supports projects that contribute to the development of cardiology and cardiac surgery in the long term.
