Online Reporter
Sifelani Tsiko
THE progression and expansion of open-heart surgery in Zimbabwe is quite encouraging and has had tremendous growth saving lives and foreign currency that otherwise could have been spent abroad in various countries for life saving operations.
Cardiac specialists at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare have so far managed to conduct 41 open-heart surgeries this year out of the targeted 60 operations for the year.
This target could have been realised had the team not suspended the operations for the emergency December peak operations.
“2024 has been a fairly good year for the open heart surgery program. Compared to 2023, we have been able to increase the number of cases by more than 300 percent,” Veteran cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, Dr Wilfred Muteweye told The Herald.
“Our last case for 2024 was done on the November 25. December is usually reserved for emergency surgery cases. We usually have a lot of road traffic accident cases which require immediate attention in December so we didn’t book any elective surgery cases.
“We will resume the elective cases mid-January 2025. Our target is to increase our caseload in 2025. We also hope to operate more and more children. We are hoping for more international collaborations with international colleagues (like we had with the Egyptian specialists.)”
The country resumed open-heart surgeries at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals last year in June after the service was stopped in 2018.
Zimbabwean cardiac specialists had initially targeted to perform 60 free open-heart surgeries this year as they scale up efforts to reduce the backlog of people needing treatment.
Before the resumption of the open–heart operations in Zimbabwe, patients in need of open-heart surgery had to fork out huge sums of money to seek treatment in South Africa, India, Kenya, Italy, Sudan and other countries.
A heart operation in India costs anything between US$8 000 to US$15 000, depending on the complexity of the case. The surgeries being conducted in Zimbabwe are done free of charge.
The country has between 500 and 600 adult patients with rheumatic heart disease awaiting surgery, while every year about 4 000 children are born with congenital heart deformities that need open-heart surgery.
“We are very grateful to the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the management of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals through Dr Tsitsi Magure (the Chief Medical Officer) for the support that they have given us,” Dr Muteweye said.
“We have also been fortunate to receive support from companies such as the National Oil and Infrastructure Company of Zimbabwe (NOIC). They have helped us in a big way to ensure that our patients do not have to pay for the open heart surgery.
“We are also grateful to Gift of Life International and Rotary Club for the support that they gave us during the paediatric open heart surgery camp. We hope to have more partners for the open heart surgery program.”
Consumables cost a lot of money and Dr Muteweye estimates that they need a minimum of US$4 000 per case.
“This can even double depending on the complexity of the case. Most of our patients cannot afford the surgeries. The support we are getting from the corporate world goes a long way in bringing this life saving surgery to the Zimbabweans,” he said.
“Our team comprising myself Dr Simukayi Machawira the team leader, Dr Kudzai Kanyepi (fellow cardiac surgeon), Drs Kajese and Mutetwa (our anaesthetists), the theatre scrub team, our perfusionist, the ICU team is excited because of the success that we have had. We hope to continue building on in 2025 and beyond.
“For 2025, we are targeting 75 cases. In total (including 2023) cases we have done 51 – 53 cases.”
Open heart surgeries have evolved by leaps and bounds in recent years breaking new frontiers for the medical field in the country.
Financial support and expertise are building up and enthusiasm for local open heart surgery is very encouraging. − The Herald
