Dire lack of cardiologists – especially in E Cape

NEXT weekend’s 50th anniversary of the first human-to-human heart transplant is an opportunity to celebrate, but South Africans must also wake up to the reality of the dire problems – including “geographic inj – which beset treatment of heart disease in the country.

That’s the view of East London cardiologist and president of the SA Society of Cardiovascular Intervention Dr Dave Kettles.

He was speaking at a seminar at Life St Dominic’s Hospital on Friday organised by heart transplant recipients Ray Hartle and Ali Koekemoer.

And University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Tim Pennel said the “cardiovascular time bomb was ticking” and called for better co-operation between the public and private healthcare sectors.

Kettles said while Capetonians may get a transplant as a state patient, in East London very few people would be treated for their heart attack, suffering substantial long-term damage as a result.

“Let’s celebrate by all means, but let’s wake up as well to the unacceptably low standard of care offered to our population, and the resultant loss of life.”

Professor Chris Barnard performed the first human heart transplant on December 3 1967, breaking through then what was one of the firmest frontiers in medical science.

Speaking at the Friday event, Kettles said that based on Statistics SA mortality reports, the incidence of cardiac disease among South Africans was growing, unlike in developed countries.

He said many of these untimely deaths could be prevented and called for improved detection, prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases.

However, the country suffered because there are only 200 cardiologists to treat the total population, whereas a country like Brazil had 8 000 cardiologists for its 180 million people, Kettles said.

In East London, a state patient could not have an angiogram or have a cardiac operation.

The entire Eastern Cape province was served by only two cardiologists in the public sector hospitals.

Heart transplant surgeon at the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, Dr Willie Koen, said that historically, many heart donations had come from the Eastern Cape, but that he had seen a fall-off in recent years, a fact he attributed to changes in public healthcare system. — DDR