Zimbabwe Losing Over 1,300 Children A Year To Heart Disease

Around 4,000 children are born each year in Zimbabwe with congenital heart defects, and sadly, about 1,300 of them don’t make it largely due to limited access to life-saving open heart surgery.

The country also has a growing waiting list of adults, with around 600 patients battling rheumatic heart disease and in need of similar surgical interventions.

But this past week brought a glimmer of hope. A team of Zimbabwean and Egyptian cardiac specialists successfully carried out 10 free open heart surgeries on children at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare.

The procedures were part of a week-long medical camp, a follow-up to a similar initiative held last year.

Dr. Simukayi Machawira, a specialist in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, told NewZimbabwe.com that about 30% of the roughly 4,500 children born with heart defects each year are at risk of dying within their first year if they don’t get the surgery they need. He said:

So, if we look at the number of children born in a year, let us say 4,500 with congenital heart disease, 30% of these which is about 1,300, will die within the first year because they have not been attended to. And the number increases as time goes on.

So we are saying 1,300 plus more each year, which means a large number of children are dying.

Machawira said treatment after age two often has limited benefit for children with heart defects, as the damage is usually already done.

Beyond the two Egyptian-led camps, Parirenyatwa Hospital has carried out about 55 open heart surgeries since June 2023.

Zimbabwe’s ability to offer such procedures remains limited due to resource and personnel shortages, with overseas treatment costing up to US$15,000 which is far beyond most patients’ reach.

More: NewZimbabwe.com

Related:

Karanda Mission Hospital Appeals For US$1.5 Million For Expansion, Equipment, Staff Housing Traditional Healers, Herbalists Want Role In Early HIV Detection