New hope for children after heart surgery

THIRTEEN children have so far undergone successful open-heart surgery at King Faisal Hospital, Rwanda.The operation, which has brought relief to parents, is supported by Open Heart International Australia. Seven more children are expected to be operated on.Beatty Kabeera, from Gikomero, Gasabo District, was full of joy after her two-year-old son Eric Yumvagusenga successfully underwent surgery.“My child had a breathing problem. He used to breathe too fast and I thought it was a respiratory problem. He lost weight and apatite. When I went to Gikomero Health Centre in Gasabo District. I was told he had kwashiorkor for which a prescription was given but it didn’t help,” the mother said.Later, we sought more specialised medical attention at University Teaching Hospital, Kigali, where after diagnosis we were told that the boy had a heart problem.” Kabeera, who said she has never been happier than when she saw her son emerge out of the theatre last Sunday, added that she had lost hope because they did not have the money needed for the operation in India.Geoffrey Tooth, the Australian High Commissioner to Rwanda, resident in Nairobi, said the volunteers are consultant doctors in Australia, who decided to use their holiday to help save lives.“These people are using their vacation to help save the next generation. Rwanda is the only country in Africa where they are working. My hope is to see this hospital become a pediatric cardiology hub in East Africa,” Tooth told The New Times yesterday.He was in the country to witness the operations.Detecting heart diseasesDr Joseph Mucumbitsi, a paediatric cardiologist at King Faisal Hospital, said it is easy for someone to detect heart problems with its early symptoms.“Symptoms of heart problems range from child to child. They include pain in the heart, too much and heavy cough, heavy breathing, dark tongue and skin mainly because of lack of oxygen in the blood. When a parent notices these symptoms, it’s important to do a heart checkup among other tests,” Dr Mucumbitsi said.He said this year, 35 people, including children, have undergone heart surgery at King Faisal Hospital.Thirty-seven Australian medical volunteers from Open Heart International together with King Faisal Hospital, conducting the surgery on children with congenital heart defects and rheumatic heart disease.Rheumatic heart disease is an acquired cardiac condition that is attributed to untreated number of complications.The operations are free of charge with patients only required to pay for hospitalisation and other tests.This is the second paediatric cardiology surgical operation to be conducted in Rwanda, after a previous operation dubbed “Chain of Hope,” by Belgians.

National

New hope for children after heart surgery