By Duncan Mlanjira
Malawi currently does not have a heart surgery specialist (cardiothoracic) since the only one the country had, Dr. Kayambo, based in Lilongwe retired.
This has come to the fore following the good news of a successful lifesaving heart surgery of a Malawian child, Lemos Tsatawe, which was carried out at the Wolfson Medical Center in Israel with help of volunteer medical team members of Save a Child’s Heart.
Lemos and the doctors who performed the
surgery
Lemos was flown to Israel in August and the surgery was done on September 2 and has since returned to his home village at Cape Maclear in Mangochi.
Reacting to this news, neurosurgeon Dr, Patrick Kamalo applauded this successful goodwill mission but hastened to say it is important to note that heart surgery can be performed locally if the country can invest in it.
“The Malawi Government spends a lot of money referring patients to India for such operations every year,” said Dr. Kamalo, who is also in the civil service stationed at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Dr. Kamalo
“A small investment locally and encouragement on our young doctors to specialise in cardiothoracic surgery, with support from the experts, are all we need.
“We have a lot of children requiring this service. This should be a priority and the next big thing in Malawi.”
There are three neurosurgeons, Dr. Kamalo himself, Dr. Keller Kumwenda and another one in Zomba with the Malawi Defence Force.
He said inspired young doctors have dared to take up non-traditional specialties and upon return have had to build their practice from scratch.
Hospital where Lemos was treated
“The good thing with our government is that if you have an initiative, they will not hinder you. That’s why I believe that if we have someone trained in cardiothoracic surgery, they’ll be supported to develop the field.
“So what should start is the passion in one of us. I have got living examples including myself, Dr. Mulwafu in ENT, Dr. Masamba and others.
“We only had one cardiothoracic surgery in Lilongwe but he retired. He was trained in Germany.
A surgery in progress at Wolfson Medical Center
“The German government equipped a theatre at Kamuzu Central Hospital where some operations could be done. But we failed to sustain the service.”
He, however, said patience is required when one returns from their speciality training but at the end of the day, the government has helped specialists before from scratch.
“Most people want to come and have a red carpet laid out for them and if not they leave the country. It takes long, perseverance and dedication to achieve what one wants,” he said.
Lemos’ village setting at Cape Maclear
Just recently, Mangochi District Hospital’s Dr. Jeffrey Jooma made history by becoming the first Malawian specialist in Nuclear Medicine, which he attained at the college of nuclear physicians (FCNP) of South Africa.
Nuclear medicine is the medical imaging speciality which involves using radioactive substances (radiopharmaceuticals) and special imaging equipment in the diagnosis, staging and treatment of various cancerous and non-cancerous diseases.
Dr. Jooma is still in South Africa where he is pursuing a Master’s in Medicine with the university of Stellenbosch in Cape Town, graduating this December.
Technically, he is still attached to Mangochi District Hospital as his duty station but in an interview, he said the long-term objective of the government is to establish a nuclear medicine department at the cancer centre in Lilongwe.
“In the current economic climate, setting this up may be challenging but the chance to lobby different international organisations for assistance exists and coupled with the positive support from the Ministry of Health will also be key to this.
“Overall, there is a need to improve the availability and accessibility of quality medical imaging in Malawi in both public and private sectors or we shall be left behind by the rest of the world,” Dr. Jooma said.
He explained that nuclear medicine‘s main group of patients are those diagnosed with cancers such as lymphoma, breast, prostate, lung, thyroid cancer among others in whom the burden of disease needs to be quantified so that the patient gets the appropriate form of treatment.
“Many different types of scans are done by nuclear medicine before the patient gets treatment, including bone scans, which look for spread of cancers to bone, nuclear medicine GFR studies, which quantify how well the patients kidneys work and heart studies, which quantify how well the heart works as a pump etc,” he said.
In the case of Lemos’ heart condition, his mother discovered that the kid experienced breathlessness, fainting, and persistent stomach pain.
He could no longer make the 15-minute walk to school and it became increasingly clear that he would die without intervention and upon visiting their village clinic, he was diagnosed with heart issues.
With the help of an Israeli friend, Irit Rabinovich, who had stayed in their village close to nine years, Save a Child’s Heart accepted to facilitate his surgery at the Wolfson Medical Centre.
Now Lemos has since resumed his education as he aspires to become an engineer and also dreams of now playing soccer in an elite league back in his village.