Sai Sanjeevani Children's Hospital. [File Photo]

More children are being diagnosed with congenital heart disease by the Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital as they have increased their screening effort.

In less than four months, over 60 children who were diagnosed with congenital heart disease have undergone heart surgeries.

These surgeries are costly; however, they are being conducted without any cost at the Children’s Hospital in Nasese.

Hospital Director Doctor Krupali Tappoo says another visiting team of doctors is expected to arrive for surgeries next month.

“We continuing to screen and not all children who are screened will need surgery and so there is a careful case selection that needs to happen between the cardiologist and the surgeons as well. We had a few children who were selected for surgery who couldn’t be operated this time because they had a chest infection or they had chickenpox or they had a fungal infection on the chest so those sort of things can continue to happen. “

Doctor Krupali adds the children’s heart screening centre in Nasese is also accommodating screenings on a daily basis.

“There are lot of children out there who have congenital heart defects and I would urge the parents and the caregivers to really get your children screened. Our children heart screening centre really is now screening every day because we have our visiting cardiologist with us so we really increased our number of days that we screening.”

In the last eight days, 22 children underwent open heart surgeries and eight closed heart procedures.

The smallest child operated on was six- months- old.