MOI launches operation camp for children with nerve complications

 
MUHIMBILI Orthopedic Institute (MOI), in collaboration with Friends of Children with Cancer (FOCC), has launched a special camp to conduct operations for the children with neurosurgical problems
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Speaking to reporters yesterday in Dar es Salaam, MOI executive director, Dr Othman Kilokolo, said the move was due to an increase in the number of children with neurosurgical problems.

“Statistics shows that more than four thousand children are born with hydrocephalus and spinal bifida per year and just four hundred of them are transferred to MOI for treatment,” he said.

He added that a lot of children were not being taken to the hospital for different reasons including traditional beliefs as well as due to poverty as parents cannot travel or afford the high cost of treatment.

 Dr Kilokolo said MOI in collaboration with other health stakeholders has taken massive measures to overcome the problems, including transferring doctors to different regions to treat children with such problems.

He added that analysis and screening to identify who qualified for surgery would be conducted on Mach 15 to March 18, this year, and would take place at MOI hospital grounds this Saturday.

“This camp has been funded by Friends of Children with Cancer Tanzania and MOI so that people can have the opportunity to see doctors and get treatment free of charge,” he said.

Furthermore, he urged parents who have children with such problems to bring them to the hospital for treatment and checkups as well as to get advice from doctors on how to treat them.

 “People should understand and encourage parents whose children have such complications because the problems are common ,”he insisted.