Heart Institute Conducts Free Heart Surgeries in Jinja

Uganda Heart institute-UHI and Jinja regional referral hospital have concluded a one-week-long camp to provide free cardiac surgeries. The camp is the second of it’s kind in Jinja hospital after a similar one conducted last year. 

This year’s camp had initially attracted 16 children between the ages of 8-9 years, however, three of them died during the four-month preparatory screenings while awaiting surgery. 

During the camp, closed-heart surgical procedures were conducted on 12 children, who have successfully recovered. 

The surgical camp focused on rectifying congenital heart defects, mainly of which was sealing off holes in the heart. The surgery of the 13th child was suspended because she registered signs of malaria, and she will be operated on at UHI, Naguru, after recovery. 

Jinja Hospital Director, Alfred Yayi, says that the surgical camps are key in the decentralisation of specialised medical services at regional referral hospitals. 

Yayi says that UHI provided 22 medical staff, and the hospital equally provided a similar number of staff to successfully conduct the surgeries. “Our staff have accessed mentorship from experts in handling cardiac-related conditions, which works well to the good of neighbouring communities in need,” he says. 

Also, Emmanuel Tenywa, the Jinja hospital’s pediatric cardiologist, says that the children were identified through weekly clinics. He says that the children were sourced from the districts of Busoga, Buikwe, Katakwi and Kayunga, respectively.

Muhoozi Rwakaryebe, the lead surgeon, says that congenital heart diseases are the most severe defects among children, requiring urgent surgery as the only remedy for securing a long life.

Muhoozi says that most of such patients are born in upcountry areas, with limited knowledge about the availability of cardiology services at UHI.  He notes that several parents, well aware of the surgical procedures, lack adequate transport to follow through with various medical examinations at UHI, with some of them abandoning their children to die in despair. 

Muhoozi says that heart surgery is quite costly, which partly delays rollout in all the regional referral hospitals across the country, yet there is an impending need for related services. 

Muhoozi says that, through meaningful advocacy highlighting the unmet needs in the healthcare systems, provision of highly specialised services is possible and can greatly save the populace from trekking hundreds of miles to access quality healthcare.