Tanzania, US experts rescue 10 heart patients at JKCI
DAR ES SALAAM: 10 patients with heart rhythm disorders have undergone heart surgery through a small incision during a special camp that lasted five days.
The special camp was conducted by experts from the Jakaya Kikwete Heart Institute (JKCI) in collaboration with their colleagues from the African Medical Association in the United States.
The camp aimed to help patients as well as strengthen the skills of JKCI doctors and provide an opportunity for doctoral students to learn in practice.
Speaking today in Dar es Salaam, JKCI’s cardiologist and cardiac electrical system specialist, Yona Gandye, said the patients treated at the camp were those with problems in the heart’s electrical system, a condition that causes the heart to beat faster than normal, fainting and being at risk of losing life.
“At this time, we had prepared more than ten patients with heart rhythm disorders to undergo surgery in this camp, a heart rhythm disorder causes the heart to beat very fast and can lead to sudden death”, said Dr. Gandye.
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Dr. Gandye explained that many patients did not have the financial capacity to pay for their treatment costs, but JKCI in collaboration with Doctors Africa, provided these services to these patients regardless of their financial status.
“Almost fifty percent of the patients treated this time did not have the financial capacity to pay for their treatment costs but received services through the support of our Institute and Doctors Africa”, added. Dr. Gandye.
For his part, a cardiologist and cardiologist from the Doctors Africa Association in the United States, Matthew Sackett, explained that Doctors Africa is interested in providing services to heart patients so that together they can collaborate with JKCI specialists in saving lives and developing local skills for JKCI specialists.
“We have brought our team to provide services to patients as well as provide in-depth training to JKCI specialists on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Our partnership with the specialists of this Institute is unique,” said Dr. Sackett.
“We hope to see these professional services continue to be provided in this country using local specialists who have gained skills through this partnership,” said Dr. Sackett.
Sackett said Doctors Africa would like to see a local team of cardiologists who are able to independently provide all cardiac treatment services.
