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ZIMBABWE has resumed its open-heart surgery programme, bringing hope to many people suffering from heart conditions, who previously had to go abroad for treatment.
Parirenyatwa Hospital resumed the programme five years after its last surgery, with young medical professionals now trained and equipped to perform procedures.
The first beneficiary of the programme is Blessing Bonda (29), whose life had been on a standstill after being diagnosed with Rheumatic Heart, and stroking on the left side, in 2020.
The stroke left her left hand weak and unable to perform a host of household chores.
Specialist cardiovascular surgeon, Simukayi Machawira, will lead the team of doctors who will perform surgery on Bonda.
The team will initially perform one to two surgeries per week, focusing on adults before expanding to all age groups.
Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care, Constantino Chiwenga, said the relaunch marked another milestone in the quest to deliver quality healthcare for people.
He said the Government had invested significantly in training and equipment, and that more resources would be deployed to decentralise the programme and make it more widely accessible.
“You may recall that the Open-Heart Surgery Programme in Zimbabwe was last performed in 2018, and at the moment, a number of programmes have been lined up to clear the backlog of patients with heart conditions in the country,” he said.
“During the past five years, our patients have been going to other countries for heart and major vascular conditions, and these countries include Italy, South Africa, India and Sudan.
“Now, we have a team of specialists, comprising young men and women who are geared to resume these procedures locally,” he said.
He said the fact that the open-heart surgery will be performed by local medical practitioners is testimony that only Zimbabweans are responsible for developing their country.
“The Government under the leadership of President Mnangagwa has invested a lot of money in terms of training, procurement and servicing equipment.
“In this regard, more resources will be deployed to ensure the Open-Heart Surgery Programme is decentralised, starting with Mpilo Central Hospital to cater for the southern region of the country,” he said.
He indicated that his Ministry had established synergies with other countries such as Kenya, South Africa and Egypt to enrich expertise in undertaking open-heart surgery procedures.
“As the Minister of Health and Child Care, I encourage those with heart conditions to come forward and be screened early so that they can be assisted.
“Let me take this opportunity to restate that the Ministry is committed to improving the conditions of service of its healthcare staff and will be taking delivery of buses for health workers, ambulances and utility vehicles by the end of this month.”
Dr Simukayi Machawira said his team was ready to embark on this journey because they had been pushing for it for the past five years,” he said.
“Once we have built a bigger team, we will be able to perform at least one heart surgery per day; if we can do more the better,” he said.
“For now, Parirenyatwa remains the only hospital both in private and public that is able to do open heart surgery.
“However, our wish is to see the major cities being able to do the surgery.”
Online Reporter