Australian High Commission
Papua New Guinea

130802 - MR - Australia helping PNG to build cardiac surgical services

02 August 2013

Australia helping PNG to build cardiac surgical services

Papua New Guinea is closer to assembling of its own team of cardiac surgery specialists following the completion of the certification of Dr Arvin Karu in cardio-thoracic anaesthesia yesterday.

Dr Karu was assisted in his achievement by the visiting Australian doctors in PNG for this year’s Operation Open Heart visit.
For the first time, PNG cardiac specialists including surgeons, anaesthetists and trainee perfusionists took the lead in performing open heart procedures. This followed a week of closed heart procedures by PNG staff.

The Australian Government has supported Operation Open Heart since 2002 to support PNG and Australian health professionals to provide life-saving heart surgery and post-operative care. Operation Open Heart has also enabled the training and mentoring of PNG health professionals.

Australia has provided almost K450, 000 for Operation Open Heart this year. Forty four children and adults have already received closed or open heart surgery and post-operative care in the past two weeks at Port Moresby General Hospital. This comprises 19 closed heart cases by the PNG team and 25 open heart cases by the PNG and Australian teams. The PNG team will perform a further 17 closed heart cases.

The Head of Australian Aid in PNG Stuart Schaefer said Operation Open Heart has provided cardiac surgery to more than 800 Papua New Guineans since 1993.

“Without Operation Open Heart, these people would not have had the funds or the opportunity to have these life-saving procedures,” Mr Schaefer said.

“As well as working with PNG personnel to perform these highly-specialised operations, the Australian medical teams have also trained and mentored their PNG colleagues. Operation Open Heart is also about capacity building - passing on skills to PNG health workers.”

Port Moresby Paediatrician and Operation Open Heart Coordinator, Professor Nakapi Tefuarani said the intention is for PNG to have a cardiac team operating throughout the year.

“We are slowly building toward this. I wish to thank all the people who contribute to the program every year. I would also like to acknowledge the importance of PNG Government recognition and their annual funding of the program.”

Dr Nora Dai, Deputy Chief Anaesthetist, Port Moresby General Hospital said the Operation Open Heart experiences could be applied beyond cardiac procedures.

“The benefits of dealing with the closed heart and open heart procedures are these skills and techniques can be taken out and applied in our normal, everyday practice. The monitoring, the equipment, the drugs that we use - the exposure is massively beneficial, it goes a long way,” Dr Dai said.

Operation Open Heart is managed through Sydney Adventist Hospital and Adventist Development and Relief Agency and funded by AusAID, Rotary International, PNG National Department of Health and Australia and PNG businesses.

In addition to Operation Open Heart, AusAID funds other similar surgical team visits including paediatrics, orthopaedics, urology, ophthalmology, neurosurgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery.