Andrew
Online Reporter
LOCAL non-governmental organisation, Brave Little Hearts, on Tuesday presented a petition to Parliament over lack of awareness of congenital heart disease.
Congenital heart disease is the defect of an infant’s heart during pregnancy.
Presenting the petition before the Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care, Brave Little Hearts director, Ms Tendai Moyo, said their aim is to raise awareness on prevention, detection and treatment of the disease.
“Heart diseases are about 60 times preventable compared to childhood cancer, but there are little awareness programmes about the disease,” she said.
“We are advocating for the right to early diagnosis. Most of these children are diagnosed late when they get critically ill.”
BLH assistant director, Ms Sharon Chivanga, said there is need for more funding to combat the disease.
Online Reporter