Child cured of sickle cell, parents fail to pay bill

By Chris Kiwawulo

Parents of a Ugandan baby who was cured of sickle cell anaemia in India have failed to pay the $17,000 (about sh41m) hospital bill.

Godwin Mulungi successfully underwent a bone marrow transplant at Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai, India; the first operation to be carried out on a Ugandan at the facility.

Mulungi was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia in December 2010 when he was two months old.

Mulungi’s father Deogratius Luwalira, explained that part of the bill was for the operation and  the other for the bone marrow donor, who is a German national. 

Luwalira said the operation was initially estimated to cost $35,000 (about sh85m) but increased to over $70,000 (about sh171m) after the baby got an infection.

“We have sold property, including land and our car but we have still failed to raise the money,” Margaret Luwalira, the baby’s mother, disclosed. 

She said the hospital authorities held the patient for about a month after the operation but later released him.

“We have spent all we had. We appeal to good Samaritans to come to our rescue so that we protect not only our name, but also that of Uganda as the first family to have had a bone marrow transplant in India,” Luwalira said.

She was optimistic that the baby would improve.

Financial assistance towards the family can be deposited in the name of: Luwalira IFO Mulungi Godwin, account number 0121496204701 in Stanbic Bank IPS branch.