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Desperate Ugandans Flood NGO that Gets the Poor Cheap Surgery Abroad

George Ntambi, the NGO's head who perpetually begs individuals and corporations to fund travel and treatment for the children, says that while they helped 75 children access surgery overseas last year, they have so far registered ten new cases in the New Year and they may not be able to support all the patients referred to them.
13 Jan 2025 17:40

Audio 3



An NGO that offers children free surgeries for heart complications in India has appealed to the government to come up with initiatives that reduce financial hardship Ugandans experience seeking care that is unavailable in the country.

Speaking to URN on Monday, George Ntambi, the Executive Director of an NGO Action for Disadvantaged People (ACDIPE) who perpetually begs from individuals and corporate organizations to fund travel and treatment of needy children said that the number of patients approaching them for help is high but also on an increasing trend.

While they helped seventy-five children access surgery last year, he says they have so far registered ten new cases in the New Year, fearing that they may not be able to handle all the patients referred to them for support.

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On a daily basis, the organization is now recording up to five cases either referred to them from the Uganda Heart Institute or by individuals they have previously helped access care.

Ntambi explains that they only support individuals who have been checked and endorsed by the Uganda Heart Institute as those that they cannot handle domestically.

The Institute’s Executive Director John Omagino also acknowledges having long waiting lists of children in need of surgery.

In an earlier interview, Omagino revealed to journalists that of the 16,000 babies born with heart complications in Uganda a year, half require surgery as the only solution.  He further said that while they have developed capacity to handle most of these surgeries, they still have to refer some abroad depending on the nature of surgery needed.

Now, since ACDIPE started in 2019, they have helped more than five hundred children access surgery but Ntambi says he has had to strike a deal with health facilities in India to  offer them care on credit. To operate each kid, they facilities charge five thousand dollars.

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Ntambi’s organization is not the only that offers such help, as Rotary and the Indian Association in Uganda have also assisted children get free surgeries abroad. But all the same this appears to be a drop in the ocean with the magnitude of the problem. 

Owing to this challenge, according to Omagino, their appeal is always to have children enroll early into care and surgeries abroad may not be necessary. He says for many of these cases, treatment without surgery is possible once diagnosed early.

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For now, Ntambi continues to beg for support saying each amount comes in handy considering that many of the children are too needy to afford basics like a passport.

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