Tears of joy!

 Naomi Kachule of Mbayani Township in Blantyre first heard of heart diseases in April 2012 when former president Bingu wa Mutharika suddenly dropped dead.

Two years later, the now 23-year-old girl was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre with a heart disease that soon toned down.

“After spending four days in hospital, I thought the problem was over and my daughter would revert to a normal life, help me do daily chores and continue with her education,” says her mother, Mercy Khulani.

However, Naomi’s chest swelled shortly after sitting Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) examinations last year. Within days, a stroke paralysed her left arm and leg, leaving her on-off the sickbed, unable to walk or work.

The patient, readmitted to QECH for two weeks on January 12 this year, joined 500 patients assisted by Malawian and Tanzanian heart specialists at the referral hospital this week. over

The Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute of Tanzania deployed four specialists in heart complications who worked with local medics to detect and refer patients requiring treatment, care and support.

After seeing the rare combination of doctors on Wednesday last week, Khulani, who could not afford the cost of airlifting Naomi for specialist care abroad, sounded relieved to receive medical assistance near home.

The mother of three explained: “Doctors told me it was the same heart problem that triggered the stroke. Since then, my daughter has been on and off, forcing me to spend every coin I make on weekly hospital trips and admissions.

“We come here every week to drain excess fluids that swamp her heart. Each time, they remove four to six litres.”

But Khulani was optimistic that the camp convened to examine heart conditions and prescribe treatment or referrals would offer her daughter a permanent solution after a decade of false hopes.

“This could be her only hope as my family could not afford to send her abroad for specialist treatment,” she said.

Rose Magombo travelled about 350 kilometres from Area 25 in Lilongwe to meet the Tanzanian cardiologists last Monday.

She said she “lost everything”, including her savings, due to a heart condition that left her stuck to a sickbed for half a year at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe.

“I came straight from KCH where I struggled to raise transport money to make this trip. I only hope that I will be fine after meeting these specialists,” the wheel-chair-ridden woman said, stuttering in pain.

According to QECH director Kelvin Mponda, the Southern Region’s largest referral hospital sees about 100 patients with heart conditions every week, with children being the worst affected.

“About 40 of them are adults and 60 are children, but many cases go undetected until the condition is critical,” he said.

In a separate interview, Dr Angela Muhozya, leader of the Tanzanian team, said Malawi has a high burden of heart diseases and the count seeking assistance has been doubling every day.

“About 80 percent of clients we have seen so far have heart problems,” she said.

The lead cardiologist said the most prevalent condition, rheumatic heart disease, could have been detected and treated with periodic checkups as it mostly kicks in when one is young.

Other common conditions included high blood pressure and decreased flow of blood and oxygen to the heart due to blocked

 arteries, mostly in obese people “who live decent lives and seldom do exercises”.

Some children were born with holes in their hearts that need sealing while they are still young, the doctor said.

“Sadly, here we have seen some clients who are 16 to 20 years old, so the operation cannot help them anymore,” explained Muhoza.

QECH consulting cardiologist Dr David McCarty said urbanisation is worsening heart conditions as most people seldom work manually, exercise or eat healthy food.

The doctor paid tribute to the Tanzanian crew, saying Malawi cannot tackle heart problems single-handedly due to lack of requisite skills and equipment.

“I don’t think Malawi needs to do everything alone. The country can rely on support from other African countries and outside the continent,” said McCarty, who is also a senior lecturer at Kamuzu University of Health Sciences (Kuhes), formerly College of Medicine when it was a constituent college of the University of Malawi.

Heart complications, termed cardiovascular disease, dominate a list of patients waiting to receive treatment abroad, especially Tanzania, South Africa and India when deemed beyond the capacity of local medics.

Secretary for Health Samson Mndolo said the Ministry of Health is committed to improve treatment, care and support for patients with heart diseases.

He said the ministry approved scholarships for two local specialists to undergo further training in cardiology and allocated

 K400 million for QECH to procure equipment for its Cardiac Centre.

“This is just a starterpack. The country needs more of such camps, but should be conducted by our own cardiologists,” said Mndolo, a former QECH administrator.

The camp offered the Malawian team a chance to hone relevant skills from Tanzanian counterparts.

The major winners are patients who often endure long and costly waits to get X-rayed, have the scans interpreted and have their outbound medical trips funded unless their conditions can be treated in the country’s congested hospitals.

Health rights campaigner George Jobe called for greater investment in training local staff, procurement of equipment and essential medical supplies for the good Malawians with different heart conditions.

In total, 537 patients were diagnosed with heart problems, representing about 74.2 percent positivity rate as a total of 724 people were screened between Monday and Friday last week.

QECH head of internal medicine Dr. Chimota Phiri, who led the local team of specialists, said out of 537 diagnosed with heart problems, 201 need referral for further treatment outside the country. He said 336 patients will be followed up locally for further treatment.

In a separate interview during a dinner hosted for the specialists at Sunbird Mount Soche on Thursday, Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda acknowledged that heart diseases are a huge problem in the country, saying over 500 heart patients are on the waiting list to be referred outside the country for further treatment