Orthopaedics surgery which involves muscle and/or bone injuries along with tumors and congenital disorders is one of the most regular surgeries performed almost on a daily basis to accident patients among others.
“Although the surgery conducted to patients in private or public wards is similar but the cost is highly contributed by cost of the implants and admission charges ,” explained Executive Director (neurosurgeon) Dr Othman Kiloloma.
He was speaking at the First Tanzania Paediatric Orthopaedic and Trauma Conference organised by Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI) in collaboration with the government of Turkey mid this week in Dar es Salaam.
“The public should understand that there is no hospital in the world that can offer such surgery for free,” he cautioned.“Implants are too expensive… they can be between 5m/- and 7m/-“ he said.
According to him, while the cost can be as high as 10m/- including admission fees, the cost of the orthopedic surgery at MOI is cheaper compared to other hospitals where the cost goes up to 30m/-
As for the conference, Dr Kiloloma said among other things, attending specialists will learn new treatment techniques including the use of special microscope (Arthroscopy), changing of organs and fractured bones (Arthroplasty) .
“After attending the two-day conference, Tanzanians surgeons and the other 30 surgeons from outside the country including those from the University of Instanbul will utilise two more days to conduct operations at MOI“ he detailed.
“The training will focus on orthopaedic trauma for children involved in accidents,” he explained and cited that more than 1370 children were victims of accident traumas in 2013/2014.
Rogers Temu, an Orthopaedic surgeon from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) seconded that lack of orthopaedic implants forces high costs of surgeries.
“Shortage of surgery implants is amongst the challenges facing the sector....so instead of implants we opt to wrap affected areas with POP bandage,” he said.
He went on to note that since surgery for children needs high skills and experience, the conference will be used as a platform for Tanzanians orthopaedic surgeons to learn and share experience with their colleague.
Earlier, Health and Social welfare Minister Dr Seif Rashid who opened the conference expressed his optimism at the outcome of the conference.
“I do hope the surgeons will exchange ideas and share experience and skills on how to use the advanced methods of surgery,” he said.
“The new experience will enable our surgeons at MOI and other regions to advance their operations capacity, especially in this period whereby the number of orthopaedic cases has increased following increased number of accidents in the country,” he added.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
No comments :
Post a Comment