ZANZIBAR President Hussein Mwinyi has commended ‘Save a Child’s Heart Foundation’ from Israel, for opening a treatment camp for children here in Zanzibar, saying it helps the government save funds to seek treatment abroad.
Dr Mwinyi said this at the State House in Zanzibar on Monday, during in a meeting with a team of doctors from ‘Save a Child’s Heart Foundation,’ an Israeli-based international non-profit organisation with the mission of improving the quality of paediatric cardiac care.
“Thank you doctors led by Ms Tamar Shapira from Israel, the camp will significantly help the government to save the high cost of treating heart disease for our children,” said Dr Mwinyi.
President Mwinyi said the doctors’ frequent visits to Zanzibar to set up treatment camps, almost annually, to examine children suffering from heart disease and eventually take them to Israel for further treatment including undergoing surgery, has greatly helped the government to minimize high cost of treatment.
Dr Mwinyi thanked the doctors for collaborating with the government particularly in saving the lives of Zanzibar children suffering from heart disease.
“Our plan is to construct a cardiac care centre, where experts from outside the country would come to examine and conduct operations,” he said.
Dr Mwinyi asked the foundation to support Zanzibar’s efforts to increase the number of doctors and skilled labour.
A total of 780 children, aged from one year to 17, have undergone surgery since the Israel ‘Save a Child’s Heart’ foundation started providing the service to Zanzibar in 1999.
Director of the ‘Save a Child’s Heart’ Foundation Ms Tamar Shapira promised the Zanzibar community of continued support to provide diagnosis services and treatment to ensure heart problems facing children of Zanzibar are controlled.
She appreciated the great cooperation they got from the Zanzibar Ministry of Health administration, throughout the period they have been running cardiac treatment camps in the Isles and promised to work on requests presented to foundation.
Zanzibar Minister for Health Nassor Ahmed Mazrui thanked the doctors from Israel, saying that their visit to Zanzibar every year has saved the lives of many children.
He said the planned construction of a cardiac care centre in Zanzibar is supported by the government of Norway, and that upon completion, the centre will have modern equipment.
“We hope the centre will play an important role in treating heart problems among children,” he said.
