Thirty children to be operated on in Islands project

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday 27th May 2013

 By ELIZABETH VUVU

ABOUT 30 children with special surgical needs in the New Guinea Islands have been confirmed so far to be operated on by the special 10-man team of doctors under the medical project Katim Na Halivim Pikinini.

Dr Mathew McLee, deputy chief surgeon Mamose and a paediatric surgeon is leading the project with the help of Prof Paddy Dewan, a Melbourne-based urologist with his anesthetics, a senior registrar from Port Moresby General Hospital, two local trainee registrars, Dr Felix Diaku, a trainee rural specialist and registrar at St Mary’s Vunapope hospital and the deputy chief surgeon for NGI, Dr Moi Seneka of Nonga hospital.

The operations will take place at St Mary’s Vunapope hospital from June 9 to 15.

Seneka said last Friday that they had begun screening patients from around the region to determine cases to undergo surgeries and so far they have collected 30 cases.

“Five will be arriving next week with three from Kavieng and two from Kimbe and we are still to get a response from Buka and Manus,” he said.

“Many of these children aged three years and below have abnormalities in their bodies that the doctors will be operating on.”

From among the 30 confirmed cases, the doctors will see: three children with anal anomalies that have already been operated on during the first stage and would now under go final stage, three with Hirsch sprung where the anal rectal area was working but the passage to bring human waste down was not functioning, three with Hypospadias where the opening of the tube that carried urine from the body was abnormal and would undergo second stage called Urethrolplasty to fix the urine channel, one child had Urethral fistula where the passage to urinate is damaged.

Seneka said most of the children had congenital hernia and would also be seen by the doctors.

Seneka also said a special case of a 12-year-old girl from Lihir island, New Ireland, who would have a chance to see the doctors. 

She was last operated on in 2004 when she was three but later went into complications and was sent to Angau General Hospital in Lae where she underwent a Colostomy. 

He said other cases included growths, crooked bones, children with large head due to their cerebral fluid passage being damaged and doctors would help to divert circulation from brain to stomach.

Meanwhile, East New Britain regional MP and Deputy Prime Minister Leo Dion has committed K20,000 towards the worthy cause. 

The support would go towards  medical fees for the patients and food for the patients.