The family of a three-year-old girl who requires life saving surgery has threatened legal action if the State fails to assist in providing money from the Children’s Life Fund.
Attorney Gerald Ramdeen yesterday issued an ultimatum to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh to process the application for Shannen Luke.
Luke, of Brazil Village, was diagnosed with beta thalassaemia major when she was nine months old and subsequently had to undergo monthly blood transfusions and other treatments to raise her blood count.
A medical report from the North Central Regional Health Authority stated that as the child gets older she will suffer complications such as cardiac failure, liver disease, endocrine organ disease, osteoporosis and other infections.
Speaking at a press conference at his Port-of-Spain office, Ramdeen said Shannen’s parents, Michelle Kallie-Luke and Arthur Luke, have mortgaged their house, taken loans and held fund-raisers to raise the $1.4 million needed for a bone marrow treatment at the Bambino Gesu Paediatric Hospital in Rome, Italy, on May 3. They are scheduled to leave on April 25.
With the trip, hotel stay and other expenses, the amount could be closer to $2 million.
“If by 4 pm on Monday the application is not processed or the Minister of Health does not give a positive response to this application...I am going to go to court and this operation will be funded by the Children’s Life Fund whether voluntary by the Minister of Health or by court order...We should look after those who are less fortunate,” he said.
Ramdeen, an Opposition senator, said that money was a considerable amount and the Children’s Life Fund was established during the People’s Partnership to assist children who were in need of urgent funding for their medical needs.
“I have taken on his matter because what is happening here is wrong. The Children’s Life Fund was set up for children like baby Shannen. The minister indicated in Parliament that there was $55 million in the Children’s Life Fund and the minister tells the people of T&T that he would wait for a social worker’s report when the children’s life is at stake,” he said.
Ramdeen said no monetary value could be placed on a child’s life.
“The Minister of Health should do what any caring responsible government would do. A child’s life is at stake and the Minister of Health is sitting down and waiting for the parents.
“One would have thought a caring government should take the steps. It is very, very unfortunate. I wrote to the Minister of Health and am giving him until Monday at 4 pm to process this application and give a response to these parents,” he said.
“They have a duty to do all that they can do. This is where the government set up this fund for this exact purpose to help babies like this. This is not going to be a case like the others we heard before where children have lost their lives while their application was being processed,” he said.
Michelle said that citizens, strangers, co-workers, the Massy Foundation and family members rallied around them to show their support.
Michelle, a financial assistant and her husband, Arthur, a sales manager, have been unable to raise all the funds.
She said her daughter’s illness had taken much of the family’s time away from work but they still had to pay their other bills which amounted to over $24,000 a month.
Application being
processed
A statement issued by the Ministry of Health yesterday said the application was being processed by the Children’s Life Fund.
“The Ministry of Health wishes to assure the public that the Board of Management of the Children’s Life Fund Authority, and by extension the Ministry of Health, treats all applications for a grant of funding from the Children’s Life Fund with urgency, sensitivity and fairness in accordance with the existing legal framework.
Under this administration, over 50 applications for financial support via the Children’s Life Fund were approved between September 2015 and April 2017.
“The Ministry of Health is guided by the decision of the Board of Management which is supported by the Life Unit. The Life Unit conducts the clinical and financial assessments of the applications based on the criteria delineated in the Children’s Life Fund Act, Chapter 29:01.
The Ministry of Health will continue to prioritise the health and safety of the most vulnerable in society and to work diligently to offer world class health care to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.”
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