Baby Elizabeth Needs N4m to Stay Alive

Culled from Thisday, Although Nigeria’s debilitating health sector should share most of the blame for the complexity and increased cost of saving the lives of babies who need heart surgeries, privileged Nigerians and government should not hesitate to lend a helping hand to desperate families like the Kezie family which sorely needs help to save their one-month-old baby, writes Solomon Elusoji Chimdubem Elizabeth Kezie is just a one month old baby, but life has placed on her a terrible burden. Her heart is bad, and doctors say she cannot survive unless an operation is carried out in India to save her life. Her father, Kezie Harry, a graduate of Business Administration from Enugu State University of Technology, confided in THISDAY on the critical situation of the young girl. “She was born on the 2nd of June, 2015, at Federal Staff Hospital Jabi Abuja,” he said. “The doctors noticed she was not breathing properly and asked us to run an echo-sound on her, which we did on the 11th of June. The test came out that she has a hole in her heart, which is not the type that will close over time, hence we were advised that the only solution will be to carry out a surgery on her which will be done in India.

“For now we are working on an estimated figure of four million Naira (N4,000,000) based on the people who have gone through a similar case. On Tuesday the 4th of August, the doctors at the National Hospital Abuja, will carry out another scan on her. After that, an official letter will be written to the hospital in India to get the actual cost of the surgery, cost of transportation, accommodation and so on.”

He also appealed to Nigerians to render assistance, in terms of finance, prayers and information that could be crucial in saving Elizabeth’s tender life.

“We have been able to get Nine hundred and fifty thousand Naira (N950,000) from individuals, because most organizations we intend meeting for assistance will need the details before they can assist us. If good-spirited Nigerians can assist us with finances, prayers and information that will aid us in carrying out the surgery successfully, we will certainly be grateful,” he said.

Elizabeth’s story, sad on its own, is another pointer to the deplorable infrastructure in Nigeria’s health sector. Definitely, if the operation could have been done in Nigeria, the cost would be reduced and the chances of saving the baby’s life, increased. As it stands, unless a miracle happens, the survival of Elizabeth’s life will depend on whether her parents can raise the millions required before time runs out.
“Healthcare in Nigeria is not where it should be,” the founder and Managing Director of Paelon, Dr. Ngozi Onya, told THISDAY recently.

“There is a very wide gap to fill. I remember when my daughter, Patricia was born 21 years ago, she required life-saving surgery. At her third year, we had to take her to U.K for this life-saving surgery. This was surgery I had watched being performed as a medical student in Nigeria, in the seventies and early eighties. But in ’94 when Patricia was born, I had to take her to the U.K. In that period, between ’84 and ’99, healthcare suffered major reversals.

“When the Queen came to Nigeria in the ‘50s or thereabout, she didn’t need to come with any healthcare because UCH Ibadan was the third best hospital in the Commonwealth of Nations. Today, no Nigerian university, I think, ranks among the first 100 in the world. Unfortunately, at the same time when we were having a reversal, healthcare was improving in
the world. Now, there is a huge gap to fill.”

According to a report by the Amsterdam Institute for International Development (AIID): “Nigeria’s health indicators have stagnated or worsened during the past decade. Life expectancy is 44 years, lower than the African and developing country average, and infant mortality is almost double the developing country average. An estimated 3.5 million Nigerians are infected with HIV and access to prevention, care and treatment is minimal. The burden of health care financing lies mainly on individuals, with private expenditures equalling 70 percent of total health expenditures and out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPs), totalling 90 percent of private expenditures.”

However, there is hope for Baby Elizabeth. It would be recalled that Lagos State baby of the Year 2015, Miss Oluwajomiloju Ogundimu, who was flown to India for medical attention, recently returned to the country after a successful heart surgery. Oluwajomiloju was born in the early hours of January 1, 2015, although her mother, a first class graduate of the University of Lagos, passed on after the birth.

According to the baby’s grandmother, Mrs. Ogunnoiki Folake, the surgery, which cost N5million, was done with the help of the Lagos State Government. She has since gone to Alausa, the state house, to appreciate the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, for helping to save her grand-daughter’s life.

“I dropped my request for assistance to Governor Ambode on Monday June 1, 2015 and he gave approval to my request by Wednesday June 3rd, 2015. God used him for me and I am very grateful,” she told journalists.

Although it will be foolish to continue to depend on donations and grants to save the lives of Nigerian kids– the health structure should be restructured and reformed – it is hoped that baby Elizabeth can find assistance in the hands of privileged Nigerians and government. The structure might not be able to cater for the majority of babies in need of heart surgery or other complications, but the opportunity to do a little good should not be jettisoned. Like the great Mother Teresa of Calcutta once admonished, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.”

And for those cheerful givers around the country, donations can be made to Kezie Harrison Obinna, 2000430991, Zenith Bank. For further enquiries, the Father can be reached on 08036715618.