Israeli Innovation: Save a Child's Heart
- Jan 25
- 1 min read
Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) is an Israeli medical humanitarian project performing free, life-saving heart surgery for children who have no access to the care they need. It was founded in 1995 at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon by Israeli surgeon Dr Ami Cohen and a volunteer team who believed a child’s chance at life should not depend on where they are born.
The model is simple and radical: children from developing countries are flown to Israel,
housed, operated on, and returned home healthy. At no cost. SACH also trains medical
teams from those countries, building permanent cardiac capacity.
Save a Child’s Heart has treated thousands of children across more than 60 countries,
including places without diplomatic ties to Israel. It treats Palestinian children, including
from Gaza, every year.
Dr Ami Cohen died in 2001 at age 47. The Israeli medical team he trained carried his
mission forward, expanding SACH into a global institution. It remains one of Israel’s clearest expressions of medical compassion, global responsibility, and Jewish ethics.