Foreign medics offer children in Libya lifesaving heart surgery

A group of foreign doctors has arrived in the war-ravaged Libyan city of Benghazi to carry out heart surgery on around 30 children for the next month.

The treatment needed for many of Libya’s young children is nearly impossible for Libyan families to access either because of the ongoing unrest in the country of because of the lack of funds to pay for such care.

The team of medical doctors, led by American doctor William Novak who set up the foundation that has treated dozens of children with heart defects, has been visiting Libya since 2012. Fighting in Benghazi hindered their access to the city and this is the first time they have been able to enter the area in two years.

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Doctors plan to operate on between 30 and 40 children, the majority of whom are under the age of three and could die without treatment.

Khaled Al-Fellah’s 19-month-old daughter Zahra was among the first to receive the surgery.

“Her heart problem was discovered the day of her birth. … We received basic treatment to maintain the condition as there were no possibilities [for medical care],” one of the children’s parents said, according to The Daily Star Lebanon.

The diagnosis was wrong many times. When the diagnosis was correct surgery had to be performed. We should have had this surgery 10 months ago.

The trips by the medical doctors were previously funded by Libyan public funds which have since depleted and the medical team now rely on private donations.

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“The staff is gone. The maintenance of the hospital is low. I’ve found that the situation has very much deteriorated since 2012,” Novick explained.

Trips by Novick’s team have also been delayed due to funding shortages with lives lost because of a lack of treatment.

We have more than 300 kids waiting for open heart surgery…the doctors need to be here full time.

Benghazi has been ripped apart by rival alliances battling for power in Libya over the last three years and has been the centre of fighting by forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

Due to the fighting, medical supplies and equipment are in short supply, and many hospitals have closed or are barely able to function, Novick explained.

According to Reida Al-Oakley, the health minister for the eastern government, a private clinic in Tripoli is the only medical facility in the country that is able to offer heart operations.