MOZ 17 - HEART PATIENTS: A JOURNEY FOR LIFE
Project Location
About 15 km from Nampula, the largest city in northern Mozambique, there is a General Hospital of the Ministry of Health (General Hospital of Marrere), where Sr. Maria Pedron and Dr. Manzio Zobbi, cardiologist, lend their service as volunteers in the field of cardiology for which they are responsible.
The population of this area lives cultivating the fields with a subsistence economy, the houses have no energy and the women go to get water from the well. In the center of Marrere, next to the hospital, there is a primary school, secondary school and an Institute for teacher training. About 3 km from the hospital there is UNILURIO, University of Medicine and Pharmacy. The road to reach the hospital is dirt and during the rains it is often not accessible so it is necessary to proceed by another much longer route.
Project description
Many patients arrive at the hospital, as this is a very populated area, and many patients also arrive from the city of Nampula and the neighboring provinces (Zambesia and Cabo Delgado) thanks to word of mouth on the quality of the cardiology service. Here everyone is visited and helped.
At the Marrere hospital there is, for four months a year, an Italian cardiologist who deals with patients with heart diseases and others related to this field. Currently, more than 900 people are checked every month and receive medication to live. In Nampula there is no cardiology department or even cardiac surgery.
A particular aspect is represented by children who have congenital heart disease. Children with operable pathologies are sent to Maputo, the capital, where there is a private specialized hospital, which with the help of foreign European teams, can do cardiac surgery. The intervention and hospitalization costs are free, while the trip is paid through this project. Children are selected by the cardiologist, and those who are at risk of life, are sent to the heart clinic for surgery. Without intervention, these babies are destined to die within a few months or a few years. Upon return, they are followed up with follow-up visits and medications.
Patients and families are given information/training on the disease, the precautions to take, the diet, and all the useful advice to keep health controlled. For some it is necessary to help the family with food so that they can have adequate nutrition. The number of patients is always very high and therefore it was necessary to hire an activist to help the manager in this service. In the costs we contemplate a sum for diesel having to continuously use the car for the transport of patients and the purchase of medicines for the stretch of road Nampula-Marrere.
Objectives
- Guarantee patients who arrive for the first time or who are already in therapy, a quality medical examination, with echocardiography when necessary or other examinations
- Provide sufferers with specific medicines that are often found only in private pharmacies and are very expensive.
- Offer a hope of life to children with heart disease, paying for the round trip from Nampula to Maputo, by plane to both the parent and the caregiver.
Beneficiaries
Direct: about 950 patients with heart diseases and the like including several children with congenital heart diseases
Indirect: families
Referent sister of the project: Sr. Maria Pedron
Project's costs