Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi plans to ask the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital to approach the courts to save the life of a critically-ill boy, who needs a liver transplant, but whose Jehovah’s Witness father is refusing to allow a blood transfusion.
Motsoaledi said the 15-year-old’s surgery cannot be done without a blood transfusion, reports the Sowetan.
“I am going to ask Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital to go to court if it wants to save his life,” he added.
The Mpumalanga teen is battling kidney and liver disease but his family has made it clear to doctors that they won’t allow a blood transfusion during the transplant surgery, due to their religious beliefs.
“Don’t you think it’s double standards to accept a liver but not accept blood? What’s the difference?” Motsoaledi asked. He added that while everyone has the right to religious beliefs, the right to life supersedes all other rights.
Since February last year the teenager has been travelling from KwaNdebele to Charlotte Maxeke three times a week for dialysis, leaving home at 4am and returning at around 5pm.
His father, Monde Magoloza, said that when his son was first admitted to hospital, his haemoglobin levels had dropped dangerously and doctors had “put him on machines to help him breathe”.
“They managed to revive him without giving him blood,” he said, adding that medical staff had respected the family’s religious beliefs and successfully performed two procedures using alternative methods to regenerate blood.
“We told the hospital many times that we do not infuse blood because of our religion. They sat down with our church leaders and came to an understanding that my son would not receive blood and they would use whatever they could to regenerate blood,” he told the Sowetan.
The transplant is expected to be conducted at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre, but the family has now been informed that it cannot go ahead without the possibility of a blood transfusion.
“If they don’t want to help us because of our religion, I’m afraid my son might get worse,” he said.
Gauteng Health has confirmed that the teenager, who has a rare metabolic disorder affecting his liver and kidneys, is in a stable condition and receiving specialised treatment.
It said no final decision has been taken to place the boy on the transplant list as the paediatric transplant panel determines decisions about a child’s eligibility for a transplant.
“He has not yet been formally presented before the panel and deliberations are still under way,” the department said.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Father refuses son’s blood transfusion because of religious beliefs
Jehovah’s Witness parents may contest interim blood transfusion order