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Namibia: Citizens Line Up for Heart Surgery
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New Era (Windhoek)
3 July 2008
Posted to the web 3 July 2008
Petronella Sibeene
Windhoek
The newly opened cardiac unit in the country will carry out between 100 and 150 heart surgeries per year, says the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Dr Norbert Forster.
The cardiac unit officially launched last week has so far seen nine heart patients undergoing surgery.
According to Dr Forster, seven of the patients are recovering very well while one is still on ventilation and another on oxygen.
Surgery carried out involved the replacement of heart valves, diseased through rheumatic fever complications. If not treated, the condition can lead to heart failure and low quality of life, making patients susceptible to infections and various other health problems.
A team of cardiologists and cardio-thoracic surgeons, anaesthetists, and theatre and intensive care unit nurses last week carried out heart operations on nine Namibian patients in the first-ever cardiac unit in the country.
The team has already returned to South Africa.
Heart patients are still in hospital being monitored by Namibian general surgeons and intensive care unit personnel.
Another South African doctor is expected to arrive in the country on Friday on a follow-up mission, Dr Forster told New Era.
The deputy permanent secretary also said that at the moment there is no exact working list for patients but the ministry will soon come up with one.
The country registers between 3000 and 10000 cardiac cases per year.
Heart surgeons will still come from South Africa's Groote Schuur Hospital, while Namibians will carry out the post-surgery monitoring.
Skills shortage in this area remains acute, as currently there are no Namibian doctors that can carry out heart surgery.
Dr Forster yesterday said two local doctors are undergoing training, one in cardio-thoracic surgery and another as an anaesthetist.
Although not definite, it is likely that the team of experts from South Africa will visit and carry out heart operations in Namibia one week per month, Dr Forster said.
Namibia is the third country on the continent after South Africa and Egypt to have a cardiac unit and conduct successful heart surgical operations.
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Kenya once had a cardiac unit but it closed down.
I applaud the efforts of the Namibian authorities in starting a cardiac program to address the needs of Namibians in this regard. We are often told in Africa that cardiac surgery is a luxury, that malaria and other communicable diseases kill more of the populace than cardiovascular disease and our governments should therefore focus our little resources on combating communicable diseases. While this is true, it is also true that we have a significant burden of cardiovascular diseases that not infrequently require surgical intervention. These patients also need care and must not be side-lined. The cost of caring for them... [Read Full Text]
I would also like to line up to congratulate the Namibian government for starting a cardiac unit and being able to offer cardiac surgery to its citizens. Congratulations to you all. I would however like to set the records straight and correct an error in this story. Kenya currently has three functional cardiac units, the oldest have been opened in 1974. This being the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi. Until the opening of this unit in Namibia, patients from Namibia were being operated in Nairobi. Please advise all your Namibian readers that all three units are... [Read Full Text]
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