About 400 children born with heart problems, no recovery in Kosovo

Kosovo continues to lack cardio-surgeon service for children. Health officials say there are about 400 children a year born with heart abnormalities. Of them about 200 need surgical treatment, which they need to take abroad.

The University Clinical Centre of Kosovo, according to pediatricist Ramush Beqiri, has no conditions to make even the diagnosis of children with heart disease. He says there is no progress in this area for years.

We have a heart disease, a little headway. In terms of diagnosis, the development of cardiology, cardiosurgy, is everywhere. This country is not interested in making progress, it pays huge money abroad for services. Initiatives exist, but there was no support”, Beqiri says.

But, in Kosovo since 2008, Dr. Mazum Beleg had launched the initiative through the organisation “Gift of Life” to enable surgical treatment of heart problems. This initiative is humanitarian, and children's parents pay nothing for heart surgery.

Mr. Beleg says that at first a child had been sent to America for surgery, and from year to year when even a group of American doctors had visited Kosovo, had made it possible for more than 90 children to be sent to surgery mainly in America, but also in other countries, and all was done voluntarily.

We organized a mission in 2012 where Americans came and did the selection of sick children for heart surgery, sending them mainly to America but also to other countries. And since then this volunteer service has never been stopped, and 90 children have been treated outside the country”, Beleg suggests.

The organisation's executive director, “Gift of Life”, Robert Reilman, estimates that Kosovo is in crisis with heart abnormalities.

It for Radio Free Europe says that out of 200 children a year who need to be treated by heart disease, only 10 percent have that opportunity.

The “Organisation, like ours, helps children save their lives, but requires help from the Government of Kosovo to form a programme that would enable children to be properly diagnosed and treated. We seek cooperation with Government, but also with other nongovernmental organisations to form a program to help these children”.

“We have helped more than 90 children from Kosovo, while the Ministry of Health helps with money for travel tickets abroad. But we hope that the programme will be created for these children to be diagnosed in Kosovo”, Raylman says.

Zeqir Owooda from LLausha is the parent of the 12-year-old who was born with heart abnormalities. He says that now 10 years from now he expects cardiologists from Kosovo to give an answer to his child, what will happen to his health, but he has never received this.

We've heard of this group of doctors coming from America. I brought the boy, he's 12. We've done control in Kosovo, but they haven't done anything. We've been waiting for 10 years... Now to see with American doctors, if they can help me”, Owooda relates.

Unlike the Ministry of Health, Valbon Krasniqi, adviser to the incumbent minister, says they have no special fund for treating children who have heart abnormalities.

The Health Ministry does not have a special fund for certain diseases, but it is a 6m-euro fund that helps patients receive services abroad, in the absence of treatment within Kosovo. This is according to patients' demands”.

There is progress in this, but not in children. But there is good cooperation with various volunteer humanitarian associations. I can say that other more developed states, cardiosurgic treatments are treated in certain countries outside their country”, Krasniqi claims.

The United Arab Emirates have already formalised the start of plans for the construction of a Kirturgic Paddy Centre in Pristina.

For the construction of this centre, 22m euros will be donated, and money will be opened in the summer of 2017. The hospital, according to competent officials, will be equipped with modern technique.