UMERKOT: A number of children with congenital heart defect are fighting against death in this district for want of peads cardio surgeons and adequate resources to meet the expenses involved. Many of them have died due to failure of their parents’ to meet the heavy expenses involved or unavailability of proper treatment within the district.

In a fresh case, Pappu, a minor son of a labourer, Thano Meghwar, died on Wednesday as the family could not afford expensive surgeries prescribed by specialists in Mirpurkhas. He had taken his ailing son to Mirpurkhas as no peads cardio surgeon was available to handle the case anywhere in the district. The child was referred to the NICVD in Karachi but he died on the way.

Private hospitals put the estimate of treatment in such cases at around Rs700,000, said Mr Meghwar. There are many more children with congenital heart defect seeking proper treatment at an affordable expense. They include seven-month-old Absar Alam Arisar (Umerkot), three-year-old Abid Ali Palli (Gamoori village), two-year-old Baby Zareena (Sadhar village), a newborn, son of Maulvi Usman Nohri (Dhoronaro), three-year-old Usman Maginhar (Khunhar) and one-year-old Baby Mahak (Nabisar).

According to Dr Sunil, a cardiologist at the Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital, all babies with tetralogy of fallot need corrective surgery. Without treatment, baby may not grow and develop properly. “The survival rate in such cases is only 20 per cent,” he said.