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New Zealand's immigration authorities have refused a visa for a Samoan baby with a severely deformed face to seek expert medical treatment in Auckland - because they say surgery will not help.
The denial of the visa was announced in Samoa at 8pm on Christmas Eve, but release of the announcement was not made in New Zealand until today.
The baby, named Miracletina, was born four months ago to Sefulu and Mikaele Nanai in Falelatai near Apia with extreme deformities and Samoan doctors decided she should not be fed.
Her misshapen eyes were pushed to the side of her tiny face, and her nose and mouth were malformed, preventing her from suckling.
Doctors simply told Miracletina's parents that she should not be fed and would die within hours, Tanupo Aukuso, editor of the Samoan Post newspaper, said.
But her family refused to let her die and secretly fed her, and supporters launched a campaign to raise money to get the bay to New Zealand for a full medical assessment.
After viewing the images of Miracletina, New Zealand plastic surgeon Dr Tristan de Chalain told TV3 the child should be properly examined.
"She has a significant deformity of the fronto-nasal area, the area above the nose. This could be a fronto-nasal dysplasia or it could be a meningocele, where the brain tissue is actually growing through the bone into the area between the eyes," he said.
But the NZ Labour Department's deputy secretary, Mary Anne Thompson, said in a statement published in Samoa that "treatment could not cure (Miracle)tina's condition and further assessment and surgery had no part to play".
When rumours grew in Apia that she could only go to Auckland's Starship children's hospital if $100,000 was raised, public fundraising produced $103,000.
But the Labour Department called in medical experts to examine the baby, and on the basis of their report the visa was declined.
"Three New Zealand medical specialists, including a paediatrician, a craniofacial surgeon and a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, have all concluded that treatment is not advisable and will not benefit Tina's quality of life," Ms Thompson's statement said.
"They jointly concurred that treatment could not cure Tina's condition and further assessment and surgery had no part to play. Medical authorities in Samoa have also reached the same conclusions."
She said information was shared by specialist medical experts in Samoa and New Zealand.
"Given the conclusion of the medical specialists that treatment has no part to play, the grounds for the family's visa application do not apply and therefore there is no benefit in issuing a visa.
"Further, travel to New Zealand would offer false hope and possibly unrealistic expectations."
Ms Thompson said denial of the visa was not related to a condition requiring evidence of the ability to meet any medical costs.
"That was not the reason it was declined," she said. "The decision was made on the medical grounds that treatment was not advisable."
If future medical opinion supported treatment for the child, the Immigration Department would be "willing to reconsider a visa and waive the application fee."
- NZPA
