By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 16: Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Meghalaya, Ramkumar S, has said that access to quality healthcare for children has long been hindered by challenges such as lack of awareness, mindset of parents and poverty.
A study by the Paediatric Cardiac Society of India (PCSI) estimates that the number of children born with congenital heart disease in India is more than 2,00,000 per year. Of these, about one-fifth are likely to have serious effects, requiring an immediate intervention.
After understanding the importance of speciality treatment for congenital heart disease, MoUs were signed with hospitals like Apollo Chennai, Apollo Guwahati and Amrita Institute of Medical Science (AIMS) for secondary and tertiary care management for all paediatric cardiology cases detected by DEIC under the RBSK scheme from Meghalaya.
These MoUs were signed between the RBSK, NHM Meghalaya and Apollo Hospital Enterprise on May 2022.
The DEIC has been able to screen over 1,78,000 children last year in Garo Hills region alone.
Children with mild ailments are referred to Civil Hospital for treatment. However, for children with serious conditions such as CHD, Corneal Opacity, Cleft Lip, etc., are referred to tertiary care centres such as the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) Shillong, Bansara Eyecare Centre, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre (AIMS) Kochi and Mission Smile, Guwahati.
A case in point is of Arphon D Marak, a constable at Tura Police Station and his wife who were constantly worried about their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Chuesa Amora R Marak, whose fingers, nails, and lips had turned blue.
Fearing the worst, they took her to Tura Civil hospital for a check-up, where she was diagnosed with having a congenital heart disease and was referred to Shillong for further treatment.
The doctors in Shillong recommended that the child undergo surgery. However, her parents were apprehensive of the surgery and did not proceed with it.
Chuesa was one of the 14 CHD patients recommended for surgery from the Garo Hills region during a CHD screening camp organised by the DEIC in Tura.
Surgery for these 14 CHD child patients were conducted by some of the country’s top cardiologists at AIMS, Kochi as per the MoU signed between the state government and the hospital. “Under the RBSK scheme all expenses including travel, accommodation and treatment were covered for all patients,’’ informed State RBSK Consultant, NHM, Meghalaya, Johnson J Nongbet.
A month after Chuesa’s successful surgery, her mother fondly looks at her daughter walking and playing with her peers.
“We have even enrolled her in playschool now. After the surgery, the bluish tint on her skin has disappeared, and as a mother, I am overjoyed to see my daughter walking, mingling and playing about as other normal kids of her age,” she said.
The parents still visit DEIC regularly for check-ups and follow-up care to ensure that she leads a normal life.
