Rotary clubs in Tanzania under the Gift of Life Project will be sending children for heart surgery to Israel. Each year approximately 1.7 – 1.8 million babies are born in Tanzania. The incidence of congenital heart diseases (CHD) is worldwide constant with 8-10 / 1000 live births.
Therefore the estimated rate of babies born with CHD in Tanzania is around 14.000 – 15.000 per year. If diagnosed and treated early the majority of children with CHD will be able to live a normal and healthy life. As pediatric open heart surgery is not yet available in Tanzania a majority of children with CHD will not receive their life-saving therapy resulting in high morbidity and mortality among this group of children.
Rotary has decided this year to sponsor about 40 children who have been screened in Mwanza at the Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) which serves as one of the four Referral and Teaching hospitals of Tanzania with a catchment area of 12-13 million people living in the Lake Zone.
Dr. Antke Zuechner, Paediatrician and Paediatric Cardiologist at Bugando mentioned that BMC s the second biggest hospital in Tanzania with a bed capacity of 900 beds. Paediatric cardiology (including echocardiography-clinic) is performed at BMC since 2005 with an increasing numbers of patients being referred from the Regional and District hospitals of the Lake Zone As a result, there is a long and steadily growing waiting list of children in need of cardiac surgery as well as a small number of children in F/U after cardiac surgery abroad.
Since 2008 the hospital is collaborating with “Save a child's heart“(SACH), a non-profit organization from Israel that is taking children from all over the world to the Wolfson Hospital in Tel Aviv for life-saving heart surgery.
Costs for surgery will be covered by SACH, but the costs for the transportation of the 4 patients and three caretakers and 1 nurse to Israel has been funded by the Rotary club of Dar es salaam as a start , this was said by Gift of life country officer Zainul Dossa at the time of the children flying from the Dsm Airport. The children leave today at 5pm to Tel Aviv.
About Rotary International
Rotary International is the world's first service club organization, with more than 1.2 million members in 33,000 clubs worldwide. Rotary club members are business leaders who work locally, regionally, and internationally to combat hunger, improve health and sanitation, provide education and job training, promote peace, and eradicate polio under the motto “Service Above Self”.
waangalieni hao ndio wanaoongoza kwa biashara organs(israel)
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