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Helping heart patients crucial, easy and noble
2008-03-22 09:57:35
By Editor
Yesterday we quoted Lions Club of Dar es Salaam (Host) Convenor Rajni Kanabar as making an impassioned appeal by to Tanzanians in their millions to contribute money to help in the treatment of poor heart patients.
He said he knew of some 700 people found with heart complications, some clearly life-threatening, but who were without the means to finance the treatment they so badly and urgently needed.
The call comes from a medical professional whose selfless collaboration with a range of other people and institutions has helped save or improve the lives of hundreds of heart patients.
It comes from a distinguished philanthropist whose long experience in doing what he has been doing qualifies him to make it, and we should all take it with the seriousness it deserves.
We feel roundly proud to hail Dr Kanabar and all those others whose intervention has made such a remarkable difference in the lives of those who have benefited from their care, love and generosity.
We understand that some of those great men and women would like to remain permanently anonymous.
We also know that for most, the giving did not emanate from the fact they had enough and to spare but it was just that they cared for the well-being of their less fortunate compatriots.
This has been exemplary service to the nation and the many communities, families, households and individual citizens that it is composed of.
And it is invaluable service not always that easy to offer but which has enormous positive impact when made available this charitably.
By their very nature and the fact that it is only now that Tanzania is making really noticeable advances in their treatment, heart diseases are extremely difficult to deal with locally.
Often, the only option is for the patients concerned to seek expert diagnosis, treatment and related care abroad – for us, mainly in India – at costs few can afford.
The good news is that there has always been people and institutions of goodwill such as Dr Kanabar and Lions clubs to fall back on when the lives of poor heart patients was in grave danger but it was still possible to stop the complications from getting immediately fatal.
But good-hearted as these people and institutions obviously are, the resources at their disposal are definitely not infinite.
That is why we find the Lions Club executive`s appeal not only relevant but also timely and therefore well worth heeding.
Dr Kanabar has given a graphic description of how easy it is to chip in with life-saving help: If each of the 38 million Tanzanian citizens contributed just one US dollar, there would be enough money to save the lives of all the 700 or so poor heart patients in the country.
An infant aged a mere six months is reported to have collaborated with his family in donating $625 - enough reason for the rest of us to follow suit.
In giving to save a life, being wealthy or poor counts for little.
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