The SOS Heart Fund urged the state government to grant its request for a piece of land to build a halfway home for children who are seeking treatment for their ailment.

Its president, Datuk Eva Susau, said the halfway home is a necessity for the children as many come from remote areas throughout the state.

Speaking at the awareness talk on rheumatic heart disease (RHD) last weekend, Eva said, “today Sabah Heart Fund wish to again raise up our request for a small piece of land from the state government so that we can build a halfway home for our children while they seek treatment in Kota Kinabalu, Kuala Lumpur or overseas.

In her speech Eva related the story of four-year-old Mikhael from Kampung Penulangon, Ranau as an example as to why the halfway home is needed.

Mikhael’s father is a rubber tapper with inconsistent income around RM400-RM500 per month. He lives in a wooden and bamboo shade house with his parents and six other siblings. He is the youngest and his mother is a housewife.

Mikhael has a moderate to large Secundum, ASD and he is in dire need of a ASD closure procedure. On August 17 2022, Dr Marcus Netto, the director of Likas hospital sought help from the Sabah Heart Fund to fully sponsor for the cost of operation in IJN (National Heart Institute) as the slots under Ministry of Health (MOH) were full and the waiting list was long.

After vetting through their financial background, approval was granted immediately for airfare, allowances and cost of medical treatment. Mikhail was first scheduled for operation on Sept 8 but unfortunately it was postponed as he was not fit to travel because he was down with fever.

“Mikhael’s life is in danger and caring doctors and the team are very concerned for him and quickly rescheduled his operation to Dec 19. To avoid unforeseen heavy rainy weather that could damage the road causing the passage from their kampung to Kota Kinabalu to be cut off, the team rescheduled for Mikhail and his father to come down to Kota Kinabalu on Dec 13 before taking a flight to Kuala Lumpur on Dec 16.

“Once in Kota Kinabalu, we had to house him in a less crowded place to safeguard him from exposure to flu exposure,” said Eva.

Eva said Mikhail’s story is not new for SOS Heart Fund as it has been sending children to Singapore and then to Kuala Lumpur for medical treatment.

“Many poor children go through this difficult ordeal, travelling to a foreign land with no relatives and families’ support and after 40 years, this pattern has not changed much either.

“The SOS Heart Fund wishes for better improvements in our healthcare services for the children with coronary heart disease (CHD), many who have grown up into adults.

“We also need adult CHD specialists to be stationed in Sabah to look after the growing number of adults with CHD,” she stressed.

Eva added that policy makers as well as persons in authority could perhaps find a faster way to ensure that the rights of the rakyat be met at a shorter time if not at real time as time is of the essence.

“We can perhaps fly in specialists to do the operations so more can be operated on home ground and treated as soon as possible and at a lower cost in the long run. Also that would encourage more young doctors to be cardiologists in the future. We hope for better healthcare in Sabah and it can be improved at an accelerating rate as we have been very much behind as a partner,” she said.

Earlier Eva disclosed that to date the Society has sponsored 712 children for corrective heart surgeries.

The medical cost of each child ranges from RM38,000 to RM50,000 depending on the severity of each case, she said, adding that the Society also organizes awareness talks for the community on heart topics from time to time.

Statistics show that heart disease is still the number one killer in Malaysia, she said, adding that promotion of heart health care, awareness talks and early intervention to the community at large, are very important and relevant during this challenging time.

“RHD in Sabah is now a rising concern among young children and which could be avoided or reduced with knowledge and awareness talk. A hospital-based survey by the Cardiology Health Services in Sabah reported that through their outreach to schools, they found out there are children and youths who have RHD and some are not aware that they have the disease.

“RHD does kill and puts families under increased financial strain as the costs to repair or replace the heart valves may be too high. Hence, the purpose of this seminar on RHD is to bring awareness to the public to take control and be responsible for one’s health.

“Many of us and the public are still not familiar and unaware of RHD, hence we hope this seminar will be informative and we hope that early diagnosis as well as adequate knowledge would provide important insight into the perception and practices to take control and that early diagnosis is of great value where early intervention improves outcome,” she stressed.

Source:
courtesy of THE BORNEO POST

by THE BORNEO POST

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