CHD-NI visited Morocco in July 2009.

There was a meeting in Hospital Ibn  Sina in Rabat, with the paediatric cardiologist Dr. Bemnani.The outcome of this meeting was that the Healthcare system is very poor and not sufficient for the demand.

In general the health care system includes 122 hospitals, 2,400 health centers, and 4 university clinics, but they are badly maintained and lack adequate capacity to meet the demand for medical care. Only 24,000 beds are available for 6 million patients seeking care each year; including 3 million emergency cases. The health budget corresponds to 1.1 percent of gross domestic product and 5.5 percent of the central government budget. 

When you have a Congenital Heart Defect(s) or your child was born with Congenital Heart Defect(s), the prospects are very grim.

Most CHD's  are detected months or even years after birth because there are no routine scans during pregnancy unless you pay for it.

Money, or lack of it, is the biggest problem. In Morocco you have to pay for every single consult with a doctor,as well as for ECG's, scans, medication or any other medical intervention.

When life saving surgery is required the patient has to pay for everything involved to do the procedure, for example, the oxygen that will be used, syringes and even the thread  for the stitches to close the wound...

Open heart surgey will cost €6000 (60,000 Moroccan Dirhams) and with an average income of just €300 a month (if you are lucky to have work) this is out of reach for the majority of people.

CHD-NI has decided to set up a fund:

which aims to raise money for urgent cases in need of life saving surgery.

This is Salma Berwaki , 3 1/2 years old.

She was born with Trisomy 21 , Down's Syndrome, and a Congenital Heart Defect,Ventricular Septal Defect.

She had a  PA banding when she was 2 years, but is now in need of a corrective surgery which

will cost €6000.00 money that her parents don't have. They live in a little village called Berkane in the

east of Morocco and they have to travel all the way to Rabat each time for cardiac appointments if they

can afford it.

Salma is an adorable girl who is struggling with life at the moment. She can hardly eat and when she

does eat she cannot retain it which is the reason why she is very thin and small for a girl of her age.

She needs surgery in the coming 12  months.

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Aziz is 35,married and  father to 2 young children.  As long as he can remember he has had health

problems - shortness of breathe and tired easily and was not able to play like other boys of his age.

But living in the countryside of Morocco means that acces to medical care is very limited and, therefore

he has had never a proper diagnosis ...that is until 2004 when he was told he had a heart condition and

that he needed open heart surgery.

Due to a lack of good information about his condition and the surgery he was afraid to have the

necessary operation.

Aziz needs a mitral valve replacement and he was told he needed to do this surgery every 10 years.

A couple of months ago his condition

deteriorated and he nearly died.  Since then he hasn't been able to work

 He is a metal worker and makes beautiful things from the metal.

He needs surgery as soon as possible to replace his mitral valve but doesn't have enough money to

do so, which means he will not live to see next year.

Aziz is the most gentle and nice person.  He has a beautiful loving family - his children need their dad!

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