MNH restores voice of boy after severe throat injury

DAR ES SALAAM: MUHIMBILI National Hospital (MNH) has succeeded to restore the voice of a six-year-old boy, Maliki Hashibu who sustained severe injuries after being cut in the throat with a sharp object causing severe pain, difficulty in breathing and speaking.

Speaking to journalists about the child’s health progress on Friday in Dar es Salaam, MNH Executive Director, Professor Mohamed Janabi said Maliki’s treatment was carried out in a systematic manner, with Tanzanian specialists meticulously addressing each affected part of his neck.

Prof Janabi said that investments made by the government at the MNH have brought great results, including enabling Tanzanian specialists to conduct complicated surgical procedures, like that of the boy.

“Investment done by the government at this hospital from medical infrastructures and specialised training has made it possible for Maliki to be treated here in Tanzania,” said Prof Janabi.

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He noted that previously they could not perform such an operation because they did not have the expertise to perform it and the infrastructures could not allow them to carry out such procedures.

“Maliki stayed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 25 days after undergoing operation on his throat and vocal cord that was badly injured and thereafter, he was taken to the ordinary ward and kept on receiving treatments and until to date where he can speak, eat and no longer in pain,” Prof Janabi said.

The injury severed the airway below the voice box, causing him to struggle with breathing and speaking, intense pain, and substantial blood loss.

Dr Aslam Nkya, an expert in neck surgery and Head of the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) Department, said that when the child was brought to the hospital, he had a neck wound that damaged the front thyroid gland after being cut in the middle.

“This caused significant blood loss and severe pain in the trachea, the pathway through which air from the lungs reaches the voice box, enabling breathing and speaking. All functions have now been fully restored,” said Dr Nkya.

The expert said that after the final checkup, he is 100 per cent sure that the boy will continue with his life and studies and no need for checkups because he is completely healed.

He said that the government investment in the health sector and his being a benefit of government funds to go for professional studies on ENT in Korea has made it possible for the operation being conducted by them in Tanzania. The child’s mother, Ms Shani Charles, expressed heartfelt gratitude to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, for covering her child’s medical expenses amounting to 15m/-.

She also thanked all the hospital staff who contributed to his care until his recent discharge. She as well expressed thanks to the Tanzanian community members who were touched by the incident and the media outlets that closely followed the story. On his side, Maliki thanked the president for paying for his treatment to the point that he is going back home to continue with studies and life.