PBS NewsHour

How a surgical team in Rwanda chooses which patients to save

Clip: 04/19/2019 | 7m 29s | Video has closed captioning.

Rheumatic heart disease develops when strep throat goes untreated. It causes an estimated 275,000 premature deaths per year, mostly youth in developing countries like Rwanda, where antibiotics are rarely available. Surgery is the only treatment option for advanced cases. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports on a medical team making the "wrenching" decision of which young lives to save.