A lack of cardiac facilities and staff in Timor-Leste means heart disease patients must be sent overseas for treatment, according to Bairo-Pite Clinic director Dr Dan Murphy.
Dr Dan said with the support of the Rotary Club the clinic was able to send 6-year-old patient Natalino Vitor Freitas Jeronimo to Auckland, New Zealand for treatment of his congenital heart defect.
“We thank the Rotary Club and the New Zealand government as the patient is recovering now because of their help,” he said.
General poor conditions, limited access to clean water and sanitation as well as the prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases all contributed to the health disease burden, he said.
Dr Dan said the clinic had to look for outside support when patients required heart surgery.
Fifty patients had been sent overseas for treatment, he said.
Intervention came too late for one of these patients who died in Sydney recently.
Young Natalino however, looks to be on track for a good recovery.
His father Manuel Freitas thanked Dr Dan and the Rotary Club for their help in securing Natalino his life-saving operation in New Zealand.
“I had to completely trust the doctors,” he said.
“We didn’t know what heart disease was but we went to New Zealand for the successful operation and now he is fine.”
Natalino and his family stayed in hospital in Auckland for two months and return to the Bairo-Pite clinic once a week for monitoring.
