Why palliative care is ultimate gift for Lunga

Emily Kasaso smoothing Betty

By DOREEN NAWA
THE death of a child is an inexplicable sorrow. No matter the circumstances, it is a life-altering experience.
Emily Kabaso, 69, has watched two of her grandchildren die, and a third, Betty, aged one and half years, is dying if no assistance is given.
As a volunteer in her community in Lunga, Mrs Kabaso has cared for terminally-ill people including children, with many of them dying because she could not meet their medical needs and professional care.
“I made up my mind to give these children a home. I decided to be the mom. Everybody needs one,” she says.
When it’s clear that one of her grandchildren is dying, Mrs Kabaso sets out to make the child as comfortable as possible.
“For the two that passed on, I made sure they died under my care. The same love I gave to their mother is the same I afforded my grandchildren.
“But doing it alone is very, very difficult. The children died in my own hands, on my lap, not in hospital, because we just only have a building without medical staff, “mrs kabaso said
When Betty was born, she showed no signs of dying at an early age. And because her mother did not undergo an HIV test to determine her status, Betty was breastfed.
Despite Betty’s mother’s health deteriorating, she did not seek medical attention but instead concluded that it was black magic.
“One day Betty’s mother was brought to my home in a critical condition. Luckily, that day we had nuns from the local Catholic Church who had come to offer medical services and they did a test on her, which came out positive,” said Mrs Kabaso.
Before she could get accustomed to the anti-retroviral drugs, her condition worsened. she died, leaving Betty with her grandmother.
Betty is not the only child with such a condition, there are many others, but because of lack of palliative care, some of them end up dying before they reach their fifth birthday.
According to the World Health Organisation, palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
Such care is essential for people living with HIV/AIDS because of the variety of symptoms they can experience such as pain, diarrhoea, cough, and shortness of breath, nausea, weakness, fatigue, fever, and confusion. This helps relieve symptoms that result in undue suffering and frequent visits to the hospital or clinic.
Lack of care results in untreated symptoms that hamper an individual’s ability to continue his or her daily activities at the community level and it places an unnecessary burden on homes.
Local Government Minister Emerine Kabanshi, who is also Lunga member of Parliament, hopes that soon, a clinic or hospice will be established to alleviate the suffering of the people in the area, which does not have a hospital, clinic or hospice.
“As a mother, I feel for these people, soon something will be done to change their way of life and the suffering of my people here,” said Ms Kabanshi.
Getting the nearest health centre or hospice takes over eight hours through the waters of Lake Bangweulu and Luapula River, the nearest one being in Samfya.
Senior Chief Kalima Nkonde of the Unga-speaking people said: “We have lost children to HIV/AIDS who would have added value to the development of our area. I would like to appeal to Government to help us build a health post and send medical personnel. Patients want to die with dignity and have time with their families to convey their last words but here in Lunga, the situation is different.
More often, you will find patients and their families are grateful for such care, whether the treatment is successful or not. Palliative care is the ultimate gift.