The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is grappling with unusual incidents of children being rushed to the hospital for treatment after they mistakenly swallowed caustic soda and detergent.
Currently, 50 children are on admission, in critical condition, with some of them having their oesophagus completely damaged.
They will require between GH¢400,000 and GH¢500,000 for treatment to correct their injuries. Individual treatment will cost between GH¢8,000 and GH¢10,000, depending on the weight of the child.
Cause
Doctors attributed the situation to the negligence of parents who put the corrosive element in bottles and placed them within the reach of their children.
Dr Michael Amoah, a paediatric surgeon, who was attending to some of the patients, expressed shock at the trend when he spoke with the Daily Graphic at the hospital.
As a result of the critical condition of some of the patients, doctors have to create bypasses for them through the gastrostomy (close to the left side of the stomach) for them to be fed.
Dr Amoah also said part of their intestines would have to be removed to correct the defects for the bypasses to be made through their mouths to enable them to eat normally.
Donation
Touched by the situation, a Dutch businessman, Mr Arthur Paes, has donated GH¢8,000 to help save the life of one of the victims, Majid Kareem, who was said to be in critical condition.
Kareem was said to have swallowed the detergent left on a table by his mother and since then it had been difficult for him to eat normally.
Dr Amoah made a passionate appeal to parents to handle such toxic materials more carefully at home and appealed for generous donations to save the lives of the affected children.
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Source: Graphic Online