Free heart surgeries will be available for children with congenital defects at the Aligarh Muslim University's (AMU) Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) after the varsity signed a deal with a British charity.

The collaboration with the Healing Little Hearts (HLH) charity was initiated by AMU Vice Chancellor Tariq Mansoor, Tabassum Shahab (Pro Vice-Chancellor) and Shamshul Zoha, an AMU alumnus.

Javaid Akhter (Registrar), Mohammad Hanif Beg (Chairperson, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery) and Azam Haseem signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HLH's Sanjiv Nichani (Consultant Paediatric Interventionist) and Zoha.

"Since independent researchers show yearly births of over 100,000 babies with congenital heart defects in India, it is high time to take necessary steps for helping these children with heart ailments," said professor Beg.

Many children requiring corrective heart surgeries do not get treated due to financial constraints and even the affordable treatment available is sub-standard with poor expertise.

JNMC provides affordable treatment with state-of-art facilities to patients from underprivileged sections, he added.