By ALISON ANIS
THE much-awaited Operation Open Heart (OOH) begins today with more than 60 heart patients, mostly children, awaiting surgery at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
The open heart procedure will be carried out at the hospital’s main operating theatre by 15 Australian heart specialists who were among the 53 medical mission workers to arrive in the country yesterday.
Team leader and OOH coordinator Russell Lee said the number of heart patients had increased over the years “with many new faces” joining in but this did not stop the Australian volunteers from coming back.
The team comprises 10 doctors, five surgeons, four engineers and three perfusionist while the rest included nurses from 12 hospitals in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Northern Territory and Queensland.
POMGH Medical Services director Dr Simon Mete said patients’ screening was ongoing and that there could more than 60 patients on the list.
Dr Mete said over the years, the PNG team had learnt a lot and some PNG doctors had proven they can perform close heart surgery.
Mr Lee said there had been a big improvement in the performance of their PNG counterparts since the operations began 15 years ago.

Type In Your Name:

Type In Your E-mail:

Your Friend's E-mail:

Your Comments:

Receive copy: