BUJUMBURA, March 28th (ABP) – The First Lady of Burundi, Mrs. Angeline Ndayishimiye, signed, on Wednesday 26 March 2025, an agreement at OPDD headquarters in Bujumbura, covering a heart surgery project with the German Organisation Kits Hearts International, Kinderherzen, represented by Mrs. Anja Scharb.
The First Lady said that she had met those organisations in 2023, in May, and that they had exchanged views with the aim of treating children affected by heart disease.
She said that that organisation had previously wanted to set up a mobile clinic, but found that the Umugiraneza Foundation’s Umugiraneza polyclinic buildings were not sufficient.
To that end, we have proposed that they collaborate with the military hospital”, said the First Lady of Burundi and President of the Umugiraneza Foundation.
She went on to say that the Umugiraneza Foundation had recently signed an agreement with that German organization and the Kamenge Military Hospital on how they would continue to work together effectively to treat Burundian children, particularly those suffering from heart disease.
According to her, 20 children who were due to be operated on, 14 of whom have already been operated on, are in good health. She added that those who come after that number will have to pay to buy medicines and pay the workers.
According to Mrs. Ndayishimiye, Burundians are used to enjoying things for free, adding that money and life are not comparable because “life is priceless”, she stressed.
She also added that, if necessary, those children will be sent abroad if they obtain visas, as they have always done in collaboration with European hospitals.
The Director General of Kamenge Military Hospital, Dr Marc Nimburanira, explained that that project to operate on people suffering from heart disease would also be extended to adults, as the complications of certain pathologies seen in adults, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, also affect the heart.
For him, it is an honour for the country to have that technology to help patients, and it is also a pleasure that that project will benefit all Burundians and patients from other countries.
He thanked the First Lady for contacting those organisations.