Clinic to be held for two children?s diseases

It is estimated that as many as sixty children in Belize are living with spina bifida, a health condition that severely affects mobility and other bodily functions. How these patients are being managed will be the focus of a one day symposium on Friday at the Princess Hotel. A team, consisting of both local and foreign medical professionals, will also look at a related condition called hydrocephalus or what is locally known as water head. The condition occurs when a child’s head is abnormally large due to the accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid inside the spaces of the brain. According to Dr. Egbert Grinage of Friends of Paediatrics, the meeting is very important because it will help create a management plan for both conditions to improve the survival rate of these special children.

Dr. Egbert Grinage, President, F.O.P.

?Well spina bifida internationally occurs anywhere from one in one thousand today as high as one two hundred or four hundred in high risk countries. In Belize we don?t have measured incidents so far but what we have done with the limited studies we?ve done so far, we know that there are at least sixty children with a combination of spina bifida and hydrocephalus in the country. We know that they are located mainly in Belize City and we also know that we could probably do a better job of managing them because we note from our studies that there are not many children above the age of fifteen and that means that they are dying a little early. And that?s unlike what is happening all over the world in develop countries where they are living to adulthood and we?d like to see that happen here in Belize.?

On Saturday and Sunday from nine to four thirty, a team of specialists will be conducting clinics at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. If you think your child or one you know might have spina bifida or water head and want that child to attend the clinic, please contact Dr. Grinage at telephone number 223-7873 or 610-2889.