Fiji's First
STENT OPERATION CONDUCTED HERE BY LOCAL CARDIOLOGISTS
Proud local cardiologists, Dr Shahin Nusair (second from left) and Dr Bharatvansh Bali, successfully conducted the country’s first independent cardiac stenting and angioplasty procedure at Suva’s Colonial War Memorial Hospital. Aided by a local cardiac team, the procedure was performed on a 44-year-old patient from Lautoka, who has a history of heart attacks. The patient had one stent placed in his main artery.
FONUA TALEI
Fiji’s first ever independent cardiac stenting and angioplasty procedure was successfully conducted yesterday at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva.
The 44-year-old patient from Lautoka, who has a history of heart attacks, had one stent placed on his main artery. A coronary stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart, to keep the arteries open in the treatment of coronary heart disease.
The patient was successfully operated on by two local cardiologists – Dr Bharatvansh Bali and Dr Shahin Nusair – who were assisted by a local cardiac team. He is said to be recovering well. Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete hailed the procedure as a milestone and a proud moment for Fiji. Previously the procedure was only done by visiting medical teams from overseas. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about travel restrictions, which also apply to visiting medical teams, the two doctors were specifically chosen for their expertise and experience after thorough assessment and recommendation by the ministry and the Medical Council.
According to Dr Waqainabete, the high standard of medical consumables that the doctors are using have been supplied by Government through the Fiji Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Services. The doctors are overseas taught and locally trained and did their fellowship around interventional cardiology.
“The Honourable Prime Minister has been very pivotal in the formation of a Cath Lab and supporting it and also making sure that we have the Cath Lab that we now have and also the training for these two doctors,” Dr Waqainabete said. “They have reached a critical number in terms of what they can be able to do and they have been given approval in writing to the ministry and also the Medical Council to say that they agreed and they have the competency to be able to do it. The fact that they are able to do it speaks many volumes.” The capabilities of the cardiologists now mean that the procedure is now available at Colonial War Memorial (CWM) Hospital for five days in a week. “For the public at the moment we know the costs are relatively affordable, but certainly it is a wonderful day for the whole of Fiji. As you know the private providers provide this type of help, but only when their doctors come from overseas to do it. Now we have a readily available service available five days a week.”