• Home

Child suffering from renal failure needs help

DUBAI — A Pakistani boy in terminal stages of renal failure needs a kidney transplant operation for which his expatriate father working here is struggling to raise funds.

Five-and-a-half-year-old Anas Munawwar Hussain, who was born premature, has been bed-ridden from birth and needs frequent hospitalisation, says Munawwar Hussain, his father.

Anas suffers from chronic renal failure due to obstructive uropathy, which was needed as his bladder could not cope with the amount of urine being produced, Hussain said.

“After his diagnosis at birth, Anas was operated upon at the Al Wasl hospital and vesicostomy and bilateral ureterostomy (making ‘holes’ on his side) were performed on him. Due to these operations, urine seeps through his sides continuously and we have to keep him in a horizontal position all the time with a diaper underneath him,” said Hussain.

“The doctors have told us that he needs two operations — one for reconstruction of his bladder and the other for his kidneys — which can be performed in either Lahore or Karachi in Pakistan,” he said.

The visibly disturbed father said that Anas has to be admitted to hospital time and again because of urinary tract infections.

“Earlier, the treatment was not very expensive, but since the Dubai government has increased the hospital fees for all treatments, we have nowhere to go.

“This time we have pleaded with the hospital management and got some discount but this cannot be done every time,” he said. Hussain has another child, who is normal.

“My son could have been treated properly upon birth, but I must say that such kind of patients are used for experiments in hospitals,” he said, adding, “I am a father, I can only earn and bring the money home. His mother is totally broken by his condition.” Hussain also said that the doctors had given him an estimate of Pakistani Rs1.3 million for both the operations.

Hussain said that, in between, Anas had recovered and had also started sitting up but he would never be able to walk properly due to weakness.

According to the diagnosis, due to weakness and constant immobility, Anas had developed deformity in the joints. Severe bowing of both legs and a marked deformity of the legs and knee joints, as well as a generalised wasting of the muscles with inability to walk was seen.

“Anas still has a long way to go and I wish I could give him all he deserves, but it is not in my hands,” said Hussain dejectedly.