Baby requires Shs15m to close a hole in his heart

Baby Ikraam requires Shs15 million to close a hole in his heart. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOOWA 

He was restless and sweating the time I saw him. His mother tried to feed him but after two minutes, he pushed away the bottle from which he was being fed. His eyes were pale, he looked tired and his size did not match his age – eight months. Ikraam Ssonko was born with a hole in the heart.

His parents, Imran Ssonko and Aisha Namukwaya, residents of Mengo, who looked helpless and confused came to know about this a month ago.
“As the baby grew, we noticed his weight was not increasing like any other normal child. This got us worried but in January, he developed a very fast heartbeat, would cry and sweat all the time so we took him to Rubaga Hospital,” says Imran.
Ikraam was referred to the heart institute in Mulago where the echo x-ray of the heart showed he had a 10mm diameter hole in the heart with an inlet extension partly closed by the tricuspid valve.

Namukwaya says, “He has a very high blood pressure due to the hole in the heart. The doctors say he will be stunted at this weight (4.5kg) unless he is operated. His only treatment for now is to keep the blood pressure normal because he may get a back flow of blood if he catches a cold or fever,”
She adds that the baby cries all the time.
“He does not want to eat and sweats all the time. The operation to fill the open hole can be done at the Uganda Heart Institute at Shs15 million but we cannot raise the money.”
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