17 Children Receive Free Heart Surgeries
"He said a problem seen was the late diagnosis in children, saying that he understood it was hard for parents to get their children to Suva for scanning."
Thursday 09 May 2019 | 01:30
From left: Staff nurse Kym Stewart, Dr Asish Katewa, Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, and Sai Prema Foundation chairman Mahendra Tappoo.
A three-month-old baby was among the 17 children who had a heart surgery operation in Suva in the past week.
The free surgeries were performed by chief surgeon, Dr Asish Katewa and his team from Sanjeevani Hospital in India.
The team was on its third visit to the country, brought by the Sai Prema Foundation for its ‘Gift of Life’ programme.
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Dr Katewa said since their first trip in October 2016, they had performed free heart surgeries on 71 children.
He said a problem seen was the late diagnosis in children, saying that he understood it was hard for parents to get their children to Suva for scanning.
“We also had two young heart surgeons participating with us in the surgeries. Training paediatric heart surgeons is not easy,” he said.
“It’s three years of training in India for these surgeons. We will provide free training to some doctors from here, food and accommodation will be free too.”
Dr Katewa said one of the 17 children operated on was from the Solomon Islands.
He also said Suva would soon become the hub of paediatric heart care in the South Pacific.
Sai Prema Foundation chairman Mahendra Tappoo said the foundation was formed with the sole purpose of serving the poor and needy.
“The ‘Gift of Life’ is the most premier project and it gives us a lot of satisfaction to see needy children having heart surgeries,” he said.
The Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete, said it was a welcome journey and he thanked the Government and all those involved in making the programme successful.
Edited by Susana Tuilau
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