48 of 316 children screened for heart defects at Chandrapur camp found with hole in the heart

A camp to screen children for heart problems was held at the District General Hospital in Chandrapur. A total of 316 children were examined, and 48 were found to have a hole in the heart. All of them will undergo the necessary surgery at a private hospital in Mumbai.

The camp was held under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan on the initiative of MLA Kishor Jorgewar. It was organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Chandrapur Mahanagar unit. KIMS Hospital in Mumbai and the District General Hospital cooperated in it. District Surgeon Dr Bandu Ramteke, Dr Parmanand Anandkar of Jupiter Hospital, Mumbai, and Dr L. Srinivas and Dr Sonia Karapurkar of KIMS Hospital were present at the camp. BJP general secretary Ravi Gurunule, Savita Dandhare, Namdev Dahule, Mahila Morcha in-charge Vandana Hatgaonkar, assembly president Dashrathsingh Thakur, mandal president Swapnil Dukare, Vimal Katkar, Sumit Bele and Rakesh Nakade were among many others who attended.

Jorgewar said no child should be kept away from heart treatment for want of money. He said children's health is the greatest responsibility and efforts to provide every necessary help for the treatment of needy children will continue.

He said that in many families, when it emerges that a young child has a heart ailment, the question of the cost of treatment looms large. Unable to bear the expense, many parents suffer mental distress. This is why the initiative was taken through the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan, so that no child's treatment is halted merely for lack of money. Of the children examined at the camp, 48 were found to have a hole in the heart, and responsibility for their further treatment will be taken up.

Similar camps have been held earlier on Jorgewar's initiative. Through those camps, around 268 children have so far had heart surgery successfully in Mumbai. He said that after these operations many children got a chance at a fresh, healthy life. This time too, the children who need surgery will be operated on at a private hospital in Mumbai.

Along with screening, children who need surgery were also selected at the camp for further treatment. They will be treated with the help of specialist doctors from Mumbai. In this way, needy children of Chandrapur district will benefit from specialist treatment of a kind available in a city like Mumbai.

Jorgewar also said that service should not be limited to a one-day event but should bring a positive change to the lives of the needy. He said the treatment of one child means new hope for the entire family. He said various programmes will continue to be run in future to help the needy in the field of health.

There was an emotional moment at the camp. About a year and a half ago, a girl only one day old had come to a health camp for examination, and a hole in her heart was detected. On Jorgewar's initiative, she was given two free surgeries at Jupiter Hospital in Mumbai. Now a year and a half old, she came to the camp again for a routine check-up and met Jorgewar. He was moved to see her fully healthy.

Jorgewar said, "There is nothing more satisfying than to bring a child out of illness and see them healthy and happy. The smile on the girl's face today is the real hallmark of our health service efforts." He said that seeing the innocent smile on her face, he felt the efforts made for treatment had succeeded.