Makerere University literature professor, Abbas Kiyimba needs more than Shs 100m for further treatment in South Africa where he has been hospitalized for the last three months.
Prof Kiyimba, also the deputy principal in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was referred abroad by doctors at Mulago hospital after they failed to cure his condition medically, known as gastro varices.
According to www.medicinenet.com such a condition is caused by increased pressure in the portal vein which causes the development of large swollen veins (varices) within the esophagus and stomach. The fragile veins can rupture easily, resulting in a large amount of blood loss.
Kiyimba’s veins had bypassed the normal channels of blood to the liver, something that led to severe vomiting of blood. When The Observer visited him at his home in Bugoba zone, Mukono district, last week, he looked very weak.
However, speaking in a low tone, the 58-year-old professor claimed to be improving as he previously couldn’t move from his hospital bed, stand up or even eat.
“It is a miracle that I can be able to speak now. I want to thank Allah for the gift of life, judging from what I have gone through for the last three months,” Kiyimba says.
He commended his employer Makerere University, friends and family for generously clearing his bills for the first treatment at Mulago and later Milpark hospital in South Africa.
According to Imam Kasozi, the secretary general of Uganda Muslim Youth Assembly (UMYA), Kiyimba’s liver shrunk and it can no longer hold blood which eventually forces it to find alternative routes.
Kiyimba is expected back to hospital in South Africa on September 26 with the funds in question to complete his treatment. For now, Kiyimba eats only soft food in small quantities and basically water, passion juice and vegetables. All foods and drinks with sulphur and acid have been excluded from his diet since they damage the veins.
Kasozi requests the public to make their contributions through Prof Kiyimba’s office, Makerere University mosque or UMYA head offices.
nangonzi@observer.ug