UGANDA HOLDS FIRST OPEN-HEART OPERATIONS New Vision April, 17, 2007
Doctors from Kampala international hospital in Uganda were able to make a break through over the weekend when they carried out the first two ever open heart
surgery operations in Uganda. Kampala international hospital is a private hospital and the director and proprietor is Dr. Ian Clarke. A Strong team of 14 experts carried out the operation to repair atrial setal defects, commonly known as a hole in heart to people outside the medical field.
Mark Atwine, 13, from Bushenyi goes into Uganda’s history books as the first Uganda to under go such an operation on Friday. He was diagnosed with his heart problem at the age of only 9 years old. The second patient David Kalenjera, 17 was operated on Sunday and had spent six years with his heart condition. The boys have suffered pain for many years since their parents could not afford $11,000 (about sh20milion Uganda shillings) for the cheapest surgery to be done in India. Stories of heart patients trying to raise money through the newspapers and radios are common in Uganda. Clearly the amount of $11,000 (about 20milion Uganda shillings) is out of the reach of many households in Uganda. Since most households rarely make this amount of money in a year.
According to Dr. Ian Clarke each operation cost $6,000 (11 million Uganda shillings), they were carried out free of charge under the auspices of Hope Ward, a charity department of the hospital. Dr. Ian Clarke says the cost of the operation is the cheapest anyone can get in the world. The team, which spent four hours on each operation, was led by Dr. Moses Galukande, a surgeon at the hospital. The cardiac team was headed by Dr. Clement Akomea Agyin, a British national of Ghanaian origin who is a consultant cardiac surgeon at St. Anthony’s Hospital London. Dr. Agyin, who is married to a Ugandan, also donated the heart lung by-pass machine.
The team further comprised of perfusionist John Francis Nelson, Tom Mwambu a cardiac surgeon from Mulago, and anesthesiologists Stephan Tendo, Joseph Ejoku and Cephas Mijumbi.Dr. Edward Khahdazhapou led the intensive care unit, Susan Elaborot led the hospital laboratory team, while Sister Maureen Twikirizi led the team of theatre nurses. The hospital plans to carry out 20 open-heart operations per year with the help of donors and through fund-raising events. Seven more are scheduled for September. The hospital can only repair holes in the heart and no other heart surgeries.
The work
Doctors from Kampala international hospital in Uganda is a serious challenge to the government which is yet to procure the necessary equipment to have such an operation possible in government hospitals. The work of these doctors brings great hope to many heart patients who cannot afford expensive heart surgeries abroad.
The doctors have once again shown Uganda has the capacity to be a major destination for such operations in Africa. What is left is for the government to pick a leaf and also start its own unit in one of the government owned hospitals.