Limpopo Health department gets surgical backlog up to date
The team initially committed to operate on 67 children with various health challenges, of which 45 were in Mankweng Hospital and the rest from all other facilities in Limpopo.
SEKHUKHUNE – In closing Mandela Month celebrations, the Limpopo health MEC, Phophi Ramathuba, has extended a message of gratitude to all healthcare workers who participated in the Rural Health Matters outreach project in honour of Nelson Mandela’s legacy.
The team initially committed to operate on 67 children with various health challenges, of which 45 were in Mankweng Hospital and the rest from all other facilities in Limpopo.
The department said it is proud to announce that 75 children were operated on across the province.
Ramathuba further launched a week-long surgical backlog clearance in Sekhukhune on July 23 to mark the end of Mandela Month under the banner Rural Health Matters project, targeting 200 patients.
The team of medical and dental specialists was able to perform 270 operations in seven days in the following disciplines: ophthalmology, orthopaedics, paediatric surgery, radiology, maxillofacial, plastic and reconstructive surgery, general surgeries and gynaecology.
Speaking from the International Aids Conference in Canada, Ramathuba said, “We don’t have enough words to appreciate the good work by the team of clinicians who have volunteered their time to go spend the whole week in Sekhukhune changing the lives of our people in honour of our icon, our
late president, Nelson Mandela who once said, ‘What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.’
“As we start Women’s Month, we are finalising the Rural Health Matters outreach project that will benefit women who are facing health challenges. This will be done as we honour the Class of 1956, who fought triple oppression and debunk the myth that the place of a woman is in the kitchen.
“Our female surgeons will be at the forefront demonstrating how good they are with a knife in theatre, compared to the narrative that we excel with it in our kitchens.”
