Dear Minister,

My heart aches to learn that the world-famous Swiss Cardiac Surgeon, Dr A.Kalangos, and his philanthropic organisation ?Coeur pour tous? have postponed sine die their goodwill mission to Mauritius. This team was scheduled to be at the Cardiac Unit of Pamplemousses as from the 18th of March to perform surgery upon approximately 30 children suffering from life-threatening cardiac diseases.

You may wish to know that this profitable collaboration between the Cardiac Unit and ?Coeur pour tous? was initiated by a well-intentioned Mauritian working in the Geneva University Hospital, Mr Alain Fong and myself in 2001, when I was the ambassador of Mauritius in Switzerland. Former Health minister Ashock Jugnauth, on behalf of the Government, gave his full support to this initiative and saw to it that it yielded a positive outcome. To date, more than 100 children have been rescued from the jaws of death, thanks to the skill and dedication of Dr Kalangos and his team. Besides, it should be underscored that since such interventions involve high tech medicine, Dr Kalangos regularly offers thousands of rupees of consumables to the C.U. free of charge.

Unfortunately, during his most recent visit in November 2005, a regrettable incident took place. As a result of a technical error, one eight-year old child passed away. This error, let it be emphasized, occurred after the surgical operation, that is during the post-operative phase. The general feeling is that the surgery itself went well but, as ill-luck would have it, the child could not make it. This unforeseen incident has not prevented some ?esprits chagrins? from unfairly pinning the blame on Dr Kalangos personally.

Those who, on the contrary, are doing their level best to promote and strengthen this cooperation between Geneva and Pamplemousses were hoping that the ministry of Health or more precisely the C.M.O. would issue an official communiqué to set the records straight, thereby exonerating the surgeon. But the silence of the Ministry, in that regard, is giving rise to various unhealthy interpretations.

Now that Mrs J. Veerapen, who is fully conversant with this file, is back at the ministry, I am appealing to you to do your best to salvage this ?love story? between these two institutions from the pettiness of a possible hidden agenda. I am humbly suggesting that the ministry officially comes up with a ?mise au point? to put things in their right perspective and inform the wronged surgeon accordingly. Such a gesture would surely make him reconsider his decision. If we really care for these unfortunate children whose parents cannot afford to send them abroad for cardiac surgery, then we have to accomplish this patriotic gesture. We cannot afford the luxury of throwing down the gutters five fruitful years of active collaboration merely because some rumour-mongers fail to understand what is really at stake.

Jaynarain MEETOO