ONGWEDIVA – Ongwediva Medipark in conjuction with the Oshakati Intermediate Hospital is performing free craniofacial surgery on ten patients.
The medical procedure that started on Tuesday will conclude today (Friday).
The first of its kind, the unique private partnership is performing surgery on children born with congenital defects of the face and skull.
The majority of the beneficiary state patients are children under ten years.
According to the Ongwediva Medipark Managing Director, Dr Tshali Iithete, the surgery involves restructuring of the face, skin, brain and bones of children who are born with a brain protrusion or swelling between the eyes and nose which is commonly known as nasal breach.
“Craniofacial surgery is a surgical subspecialty of plastic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery that deals with congenital and acquired deformities of the skull, face, neck and jaws,” said Iithete.
A team of specialists in plastic surgery, neurosurgery, maxillofacial surgery and paediatrics have combined to conduct the multi-disciplinary surgery.
The team is also strengthened by a group of visiting specialists from South Africa.
According to Iithete, bringing the experts together has aided to provide such complex surgery to Namibian patients.
Iithete is confident the public-private partnership (PPP) between Ongwediva Medipark and the Ministry of Health and Social Services is one of many co-operative programmes to come in future.
“We want to support the Ministry of Health and Social Services again in the future if it is possible in areas that require a multi-disciplinary approach,” said Iithete.
Iithete advised mothers who deliver at home to visit the nearby health centres or hospitals to have deformities in their children detected at an early stage.
Iithete described such deformities as serious, stressing that children who do not receive medical treatment do not live into adulthood.
By Nuusita Ashipala