150 children to get free heart surgery in India

The Indian Association of Uganda has said at least 150 children from Uganda will benefit from the free heart surgery in India this year. 
 
The Secretary of the Association, Mr Sasi Kumar, said this on Monday at their offices in Kampala, while sending the third batch of beneficiaries (five children) to India’s Namar Hearth Hospital where they will undergo heart operation. 

“One child, whose condition is not well, has to travel while on oxygen with her caretaker and a doctor to monitor the health condition,” Mr Kumar said. 
 
The Association said they would pay the medical bill in partnership with the Rotary Club of Ssese Island. The national carrier, Uganda Airlines, has issued tickets at a concession rate, the Association also revealed. 

“As the Indian Association, we have been sending three children but this time, we are sending five after partnering with Rotary Club Ssese,” Mr Kumar said.
 
He added that these will make the third batch in three months, totalling to 11 children with each child and caretaker needing between $5,000 (Shs19.4m) and $8,000 (Shs31m). 
 
Ms Ritah Namyalo, the chief executive officer of Healthy Heart Foundation, said out of 1. 6 million children born every year, one percent of them have congenital heart disease. She noted that Uganda cannot treat all of them, that’s why they have to be taken abroad. 

Mr Posiano Mbaziira, a resident of Kayunga District, said her daughter was diagnosed with a hole in her heart in January 2024 by Uganda Heart Institute. 

“I wasted a lot of time visiting village health facilities that were not well equipped until I was referred to Nalufenya and Mulago hospitals that identified she had a heart problem,” he said, applauding the Indian Association for the free medication.
 
The Association said they have so far managed to have 165 children successfully operated on in India for the 101 years of existence in Uganda. 

The association has Mr Dharmesh Patel as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Secretary to the Board of Trustees, Mr Goutam Das and other executive committee members are Dr Sudhir Ruparelia, Mr Ashwin Patel, Mr Eswar, Mr Chacko Babu, and Mr Munnangi Sitaram Reddy. The Trustees and other Association members have over the years funded the children surgery in India and other community empowerment projects in the country.

A 2020 study report by Judith Namuyonga from Uganda Heart Institute and colleagues indicates that congenital heart disease is a very common anomaly in children. The researchers also observed that more than half of the deaths due to the disease occur in the neonatal period. 
 
The researchers retrospectively reviewed the data of children with congenital heart disease presented to the Uganda Heart Institute from 2007 to 2014.
 
“A total of 4,621 children were seen at the UHI during the study period. Of these, 3,526 (76.3 percent) had congenital heart disease; 1,941 (55 percent) were females,” the researchers wrote.
 
The researchers also highlighted delays for the children to get proper diagnosis because of gaps in the health system.
 
“We postulate that very few children of neonatal coarctation (congenital narrowing of a short section of the aorta -large blood pathway in the heart) were seen because they are not referred early to our center and could have been missed by the primary health care provider,” the researchers observed, adding: “Critical neonatal coarctation often presents as an emergency with a newborn in shock and fatal without immediate intervention,” they added.