Friday, 12 April 2013

Disease causes tragic toddler’s head to swell up

Indian daily labourer, Abdul Rahman, 26, holds his 18 month old daughter, Roona Begum, suffering from Hydrocephalus,a buildup

 

A HEARTBROKEN dad cradles his 18-month-old daughter, who suffers from a rare disorder which has caused her head to swell up three times its normal size.

Roona Begum, from Agartala, in north eastern India has hydrocephalus - a build up cerebrospinal fluid inside her skull. 

Sufferers experience loss of coordination and speech and in long-term cases it can result in mental disability and death.

A treatment is available, in which doctors drain the fluid, but it isn't available on India's version of the NHS. 

Roona suffers from Hydrocephalus, and her family can't afford cost of treatment

Roona's dad, 26-year-old Abdul Rahman, earns less than £2 a day working in a brick factory and can't afford to pay for her to be treated privately. 

India's rural development minister bitterly criticised the country's public health system in a speech last November - claiming the government was failing to provide enough help for the poor.

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