Blessing Bonda, the first patient to undergo an open heart surgery after its resumption this month, is recovering well following a successful six-hour operation conducted at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals last week on Thursday.
The surgery was conducted by a team of specialist doctors and nurses at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals led by specialist cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, Dr Simukayi Machawira.
According to Dr Machawira, approximately 4 000 children that are born each year in Zimbabwe need some sort of open heart surgery for them to be able to survive.
“The country has a burden of rheumatic heart disease which, unfortunately, is very much poorly documented at the moment, we have between 500 and 600 patients with rheumatic heart disease awaiting surgery,” said Dr Machawira.
So far, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals remains the only hospital in the private and public sectors that can do open heart surgeries, with plans underway to decentralise the surgeries countrywide.
Text/ Image: ZBC
