Child without sex organs waits in vain for surgery

An innocent 10-year-old child born without sex organs and an anus does not know what the future holds as doctors who were supposed to correct the problem have not performed the surgical procedures for the past decade.

The child who is now in Standard 6 and aspires to become a lawyer one day, was born without natural waste disposal openings but uses an artificial one besides having problems with limbs making it difficult for her to walk.

When Nation on Sunday visited the child in Chilomoni Township, Blantyre, the  grandmother Ellen Kataya, said doctors both from Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) and Beit Cure Hospital confirmed that the child requires a number of operations before reaching  the age of 14.

“Initially doctors told us that she required a number of operations to normalise her anatomy. But only one operation was done which was to close one hole of the two holes that developed-as they opened another one for excreta,” she said.

But Kataya said the operation did not help much as the situation was reversed just after a few months.

She said as a result, it is impossible for the child to visit the toilet alone, relying on other people and has to be dressed in nappies which parents say demoralises the child amidst school peers.

However Kataya claimed one expatriate doctor from Qech (name withheld) has been blocking any attempts by other doctors at the hospital to send the child for an operation in South Africa.

“From what this doctor told us, he did not believe that the child will live long; hence, he urged his friends not to waste time and resources on our child. But the consequence of that decision is that the child is suffering,” she added.

According to Kataya, doctors at Beit Cure International Hospital who were supposed to operate on the child to enable her to walk failed as they waited for an operation on the genitalia which would enable them to do a successful operation on the legs.

But Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Patricia Kaliati said she was concerned about the welfare of the child and her ministry would move in to assist.

“I sympathise with the child and parents, but as a ministry, what we are going to do is to liase with the Ministry of Health to see what exactly can be done for the child to be assisted accordingly. It is necessary that the child grow up without being tortured psychologically as is the case now,” she said.

QECH administrator Themba Mhango when contacted for comment said he had not seen the file about the case but indicated there was a need for guardians to take the child back to the hospital for doctors to reassess the child.

“It might be that during that time the hospital did not have plastic surgeons but I wonder how the case was treated that way. Now we have two surgeons in that department. The parents need to come back to hospital and meet these experts,” he said.

Kenneth Chipeta, director of Foundation for Widows and Orphans, who unearthed the issue said helping the child would relieve the grandmother-a widow, to concentrate on economic activities that would help her feed the family that includes the child.

“The grandmother of the child is a widow who most of the times suspends her economic activities to help the child. We believe if the child was assisted accordingly the parents would be free to take care of their responsibilities,” he said. n