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Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
THE Hydrocephalus Association in partnership with Matabeleland Nomads Golf Club has donated 44 shunts and accessories to Mpilo Central Hospital for use by children suffering from hydrocephalus.
The shunts and accessories were presented to health officials at the hospital’s Hydrocephalus ward which caters for children suffering from the condition.
Hydrocephalus is a condition in which a child’s head grows big due to buildup of fluid in the cavities deep within the brain.
The condition is caused by lack of folic acid in pregnant women and can be prevented if they improve their diet during pregnancy by taking folic supplements.
Matabeleland Nomads Golf Club incoming captain Mr Edson Ngaseke said besides playing golf, they also extend a helping hand to needy members of society annually from what they raise on their charity day.
“We made donations to three institutions which are Island Hospice, Sir Humphry Gibbs and Mpilo Central Hospital. In partnership with Pastor Lyn`s Hydrocephalus Association we are donating shunts for children with the hydrocephalus condition. We pledged to assist with buying the shunts but when we checked the local price they were going for US$230 per shunt. We then approached a company in India which supplied at US$160,” said Mr Ngaseke.
He said they had initially committed to buy 30 shunts but after getting an Indian supplier, they managed to buy 44 shunts and accessories.
Mr Ngaseke said they are aware of the challenges mothers with children suffering from the condition face due to prohibitive costs.
“This is a complete set that is needed so each child is receiving a full kit. What we have to remember is that what we do for ourselves dies with us but what we do for others remains. When we see the need we should strive to be part of the solution,” he said.
Hydrocephalus Association founder, Pastor Lyn Ndlovu said she was humbled by the support from the Matabeleland Nomads as it will ensure survival of children born with the condition as Mpilo Hospital had run out of shunts making it difficult for operations to be done.
Pastor Lyn said the condition is expensive to manage and mothers with such children usually face the challenge of raising enough money to care for the children as men and society usually abandon them.
“The children do not only need shunts but a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan which costs more than US$100.
They also need very expensive medicine. I cannot thank you enough Matabeleland Nomads for what you have done for these children because there is no child who can survive without a shunt. We want to elevate our voices against discrimination because these children deserve better. Their mothers spend long time here at the hospital waiting for shunts. We appeal for more resources to be availed to support children suffering from the condition,” she said.
Pastor Ndlovu said there 88 children with the condition on their records in Bulawayo, Hwange, Gweru, Kwekwe, Nkayi and Tsholotsho among other areas. — @themkhust
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