Afra: almost four years from breathing problems to a diagnosis
Afra was born in Karagwe District, Kagera Region, in May 2015. It took almost four years for her heart condition to be found.
Afra was born on 8 May 2015 in Karagwe District, Kagera Region.
Three months after her birth she began to have breathing difficulties and her health went downhill. At Karagwe District Hospital she was diagnosed with pneumonia and given medicine, but she did not improve.
In June 2019, almost four years after the breathing problems began, doctors finally found that the cause was in her heart. She was diagnosed with heart defects.
Afra received her treatment in July 2021 at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma, during our first surgical mission.
Afra's breathing problems were treated as pneumonia for years before anyone looked at her heart. Screening with echo and ECG near home is how we try to shorten that wait for other children.
Published with the family's written consent.
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