The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
TENDAI Hove from Zhombe in the Midlands Province is just under two years of age and a cardiac patient who has been struggling to get adequate treatment in Zimbabwe for her Fallot’s Tetralogy, a congenital heart disease (CHD) caused by various reasons.
However, lady luck smiled on her and her mother Ms Esnath Chisvo who is a teacher, when she got the much-needed help after visiting All Souls Mission Hospital in Mutoko, a referral centre for those with congenital heart diseases where she was told that her child’s life could be transformed.
“I delivered through Caesarian section on 23 September 2018, but the moment I gained my strength and conscience I realised that there was something wrong with my baby. I started troubling the doctor about her navel and her eyes but the doctor said nothing was wrong with her,” she said.
In November Ms Chisvo said she took her daughter to hospital where the practitioner listened to her heart beat and noticed an anomaly. He then advised the family that they needed to go and get an X-ray done.
“The X-ray revealed that the child had an enlarged heart. The doctor, however, said it might be big but it was normal. He advised that I take Tendai for echocardiography which is basically an ultrasound for the heart. On 11 November 2018 the results revealed that her heart had two holes and the passage to her lungs has one pathway instead of two, a condition called tetralogy of fallot.
“So, he referred me to Parirenyatwa Hospital where I went. On arrival nothing was done to her but rather she was booked to be seen on 2 February 2019. On that day she was sick and was admitted. She hadn’t received any medication to treat her heart ever since,” said the mother.
After the diagnosis, she was admitted to hospital but that was the beginning of more challenges.
“I visited Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare the whole of 2019 where they said Tendai needed an operation as soon as possible. I was told I would be added on the list of those going to Mutoko’s All Souls Hospital. The hospital later called us saying Tendai was booked on 12 November 2019 so we went there and she was shortlisted for an operation in Italy. We had no passports and we ran around to acquire them and waited for the time to travel to Italy,” she said.
However, after struggling to get the travelling documents, coronavirus struck and they now have little hope left.
“Now that we acquired passports the coronavirus suddenly took the world by storm and I am praying that God intervenes so that our children can travel for the surgery in Italy before their condition deteriorates further,” said Ms Chisvo.
She said she was forced to watch her child deteriorate each day she has not received the life changing surgery that was pencilled in for Italy.
Some unfortunate ones have succumbed to their various heart conditions as they waited for the surgery and coming to terms with their loss has been a challenge.
One such parent said she was just holding on to a new passport acquired this year for her child to travel to Italy but sadly, the child did not make it.
Ms Tendai Moyo who founded an organisation, Brave Little Hearts, after losing a child to CHD, also weighed in saying they had pinned their hopes on having children from Zimbabwe going to Italy.
“Our children continue dying daily, our challenge as the CHD patients remain hidden from society as there is no awareness of this desperate community and it is so difficult getting sponsors and donors for our cause despite this birth defect being a number one birth killer, 60 times more prevalent than cancer.
“We were solely dependent on the Italians who would help a few children and take them for surgery in Italy. Some who have medical aid fundraise for treatment in India too where they would go and get lifesaving surgeries but with Covid-19 all these children are going to be affected as they can no longer go because of restrictions in travelling,” she lamented.
Several children were on the waiting list to travel to get the operation in Italy following the interventions of All Souls Mission Hospital but as it stands parents are waiting desperately for the coronavirus to be contained so that they travel for the corrective surgeries that can potentially save the lives of their children.
Ms Moyo said they needed the support of the health ministry to improve the lives of the children.
“We need those sustainable solutions we have been advocating for, lifesaving surgeries need to be done as a matter of urgency as we will lose all cardiac patients who are also high-risk patients to Covid-19. Most were being done overseas and the borders have been closed.
“The CHD patients barely have access to the expensive medications and we were hoping we could get assistance to access anti-heart failure medication or someone to partner us for the supply of drugs such as Captopril, Furosemide and Sildenafil at a subsidised rate. Some pharmacies also do not stock up these vital medicines,” she said.
The team at Brave Little Hearts said they also needed partners to aid them in the renovation of the cardiac ward at Mpilo Central Hospital which needs new machinery that can detect heart conditions sooner.
“As a community we feel marginalised as responses to our needs have been very difficult, we face a lot of stigma when looking for help as there is no awareness of these challenges we face as a community. A lot of awareness is essential for our plight to be recognised,” she added.
Miss Tendai Chatikobo, a volunteer for the Brave Little Hearts said there was need to look in to treatment of heart conditions.
“We live in a country where we can get just a diagnosis and no treatment. Some of them do not even need open heart surgery but certain procedures that will help them breathe better, that will help their blood flow better and just generally allow them a fair chance at life. The pain of having a diagnosis and no treatment available in your own country is traumatising. With limitations on travel most parents are now in a state of panic. The first thing that needs to be done is to raise awareness, to make it known that we have these innocent souls needing urgent assistance because the sooner cardiac condition is detected the better,” she said passionately.
