Cardiac surgeries for children are currently being performed at Orotta National Referral Hospital through a collaborative effort between Eritrean doctors and Italian medical experts from ‘Med-Action Bambini.’ The program, which began on 23 October, will continue until 31 October, addressing patients from across the country who have been on the waiting list for surgery.

Mr. Tewolde Yohannes, manager of the hospital, stated that from 22 September to 5 October, cardiac surgeries were conducted on 79 children in collaboration with German medical experts. Earlier in the year, from 6 to 19 February, surgeries were performed on 24 children in partnership with Italian medical specialists.

Coordinators of the ‘Med-Action Bambini’ program, Mr. Alem Demoz and Mr. Silvio Liyoni, noted that surgeries on six children were successfully performed by Eritrean medics. They added that efforts are underway to enable Eritrean medical experts to independently perform these surgeries in the future.

In related news, successful cataract surgeries were carried out on 177 patients in the Habero sub-zone, Anseba Region, from 16 to 22 October.

Mr. Kahsai Seium, head of the eye treatment unit at Keren Hospital, reported that screenings were conducted across all administrative areas of the sub-zone to identify patients requiring surgery.

The medical experts who performed the surgeries commended the public’s growing awareness, as evidenced by the increasing number of people visiting health facilities for eye treatment.

It is worth noting that cataract surgeries were also recently performed on 252 patients from the sub-zones of Keren, Elaberet, and Hagaz at Keren Hospital.