The young Jeramias was among a group of 16 babies and children from Guinea-Bissau who returned home today after several months of treatment in Portugal. These children traveled without their families, but were accompanied by various organizations and official entities that collaborated to address the gaps in their home country.
Heart diseases have a high incidence and mortality rate in Guinea-Bissau, a reality addressed by the Spanish Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) AIDA since 2006.
The organization, focused on improving living conditions, has partnered with others and supported, at full cost, the transfer of 740 children for medical treatment in other countries.
As Cremilde Dias, coordinator of AIDA’s medical evacuation program, stated today, most of these transfers, “around 560” to Portugal, and of these, about 300 to hospitals in Coimbra.
It was there that the 16 children, who returned to Bissau today “fully cured of their heart conditions”, were treated.
The reception at the airport was “a moment of great pride reflecting the work that partners have done and also showcasing the success of a coordinated project involving teamwork from various organizations and two states”, she added.
Portuguese medical assistance results from a medical board protocol signed between Portugal and Guinea-Bissau and involves partners such as the NGO AIDA, the Portuguese association ANA- Acolher, Nutrir e Amar, the Renato Grandi pediatric center in Bissau, the Portuguese Embassy in Bissau, the Guinean Ministry of Health, the Directorate-General of Health (DGS), and the Local Health Unit (ULS) of Coimbra, Portugal.
Portuguese doctors conduct three missions annually to Guinea-Bissau, where, at the Renato Grandi center, “they assess and select children with a good prognosis, whose heart diseases have a chance to be cured and lead a normal life”, explained Cremilde Dias.
“The partnership of these structures shows that well-coordinated work is possible and yields very positive results, as we are witnessing today”, she emphasized.
Upon arriving in Guinea-Bissau, these children continue to receive social support from AIDA and clinical care at the Renato Grandi pediatric center, which also provides free medication.
Accompanying the children on the TAP flight back home was Andreia Palma, a pediatric cardiologist at ULS in Coimbra, Portugal, to participate in another mission lasting a week.
In these missions, doctors determine “which children can be treated in Guinea-Bissau with medical therapy and which need to be transferred to Coimbra [Portugal], particularly for cardiac surgery or cardiac catheterization”.
These children, she clarified, “are not prioritized over children in the National Health Service (SNS) in Portugal”.
“They are screened and enter the list just like our children, without delaying any medical care for Portuguese children”, she stated.
The main difference for these children is “their adaptability, as they spend some time away from their families and quickly adapt” to the new environment, and “recovery is very fast”.
In addition to Guinea-Bissau, Coimbra also receives patients from São Tomé and Príncipe and Cabo Verde.
While in Portugal, the Guinean children have “heart families”, support from the ANA association, which assists children in the fields of cardiology and oncology.
According to Vice-President Fátima Lourenço, in Portugal, they have “heart families that host these children, enabling this project to function in this way”.
“We are eternally grateful to them for everything they have done to help us support these children, as they are the ones who host and cover expenses”, she pointed out.
More than 60 families are involved in a process that “is always challenging”.
“Here [in Guinea-Bissau], when the children go, [and] then the farewell there [Portugal] is difficult. The families treat them as their own”, she concluded.
“Gratifying” is how this volunteer describes facilitating the connection between the children and the families that host them.
Happiness was the common sentiment today among all involved in the project and the families who welcomed their children back.
Viana Sanca, mother of young Jeramias, waited two hours away from home, in a Bissau neighborhood, for the AIDA vehicle bringing back her son.
“Jeramias is well, he arrived safe and sound”, she said, expressing her joy at seeing her son healed after several unsuccessful attempts in Guinea-Bissau.
“I am very happy today”, she expressed as she bid farewell to AIDA volunteers who spent the rest of this Saturday afternoon returning the children entrusted to them for treatment to their Guinean families.
