The 21-member team of surgeons and support medical professionals from the Sai Sanjeevani Hospitals in India has completed 30 heart surgeries, in a span of eight days.

The team that was brought in by the Sai Prema Foundation of Fiji was the second set of surgeons to carry out surgeries at the new Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Hospital in Suva.

The surgeries started on Friday, July 29 and ended on Friday, August 5. Twenty-two children underwent open heart surgeries while eight were closed heart procedures.

The youngest to be operated on was a six-month-old baby. Sai Prema Foundation director Sumeet Tappoo, who spearheaded this landmark hospital project from start to finish, said the foundation was excited to have the opportunity to serve the children of Fiji and the Pacific.

“It is a matter of great pride that Fiji is the first nation in the Pacific and Oceania region to have such a hospital. All surgeries and treatments are and will forever be performed absolutely free of cost. The Hospital does not and will not ever have a billing counter,” he said.

“The reality is that we are losing many children. But this Hospital has started changing and will change the medical landscape of our nation and the region in the field of pediatric cardiac care.”

He expressed his gratitude to the Surgical team, led by Dr Krishna Manohar and Dr Subramanian Chellappan from Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital in Palwal, India, for saving the lives of the children of Fiji.

Feedback: inoke.rabonu@fijisun.com.fj