Uganda to Honor Medics for First Ever Coronary Bypass Surgery

The Parliament of Uganda has moved and supported emotion to pay tribute to a team of medical experts of Uganda heart institute for successfully performing the first ever coronary bypass surgery in Uganda. The motion which was presented to Parliament by Hon. Tayebwa Thomas, MP (Member of Parliament) for Ruhinda North County in Mitooma District in Western Uganda and seconded by Hon. Ariko Herbert Edmund, MP, Soroti Municipality in Soroti district and Hon. Abala David, MP, Ngora County in Ngora district, seeks to recognize the effort of a team of 10 medical workers who successfully performed the surgery. In his emotion, Hon. Tayebwa highlights that in 2016, in an effort to increase the competitiveness of the health sector as defined in the National Development plan (NDP ll), parliament enacted the Uganda Heart Institute Act which established the institute as an autonomous government agency with the mandate to among others offer medical and surgical treatment as well as rehabilitation of persons affected by heart diseases and other related conditions. Tayebwa and the seconders of the motion agree that the Uganda Heart institute has striven to attain the technical capacity to offer a complete range of cardiac care services comparable to any centre of excellence in the world and is now able to handle all aspects of diagnostic, non- invasive care in the intensive care unit (lCU) and critical care Unit (CCU), invasive/cardiac catheterization interventions and open-heart surgery for both children and adults; They are particularly delighted that the institute has for the first time successfully performed a coronary by-pass surgery which has been the missing link for all this time; which achievement they now celebrate with the rest of the nation and was made possible with funding from the Government of Uganda in support to the Ministry of Health. They resolve that Parliament collectively convey, sincere gratitude to prof. Francis Omaswa, the founder of the institute, Dr Omangino John, the Institute’s Executive Director; the lead surgeons Dr. Manyilirah William and Dr. Mwambu Tom; Dr. Mijumbi Cephas and Dr. Ejoku the anesthesiologist; the Intensivist Dr Ssemogerere Lameck; the lead theatre lCU nurse Ms’ Ann Oketayot and the Perfusionist Ms. Muraa Pascaline, all of the Uganda Heart Institute, for successfully performing the first ever coronary by-pass surgery in Uganda. The movers and seconders of the motion also want government to make an annual allocation of an equivalent of a sum of ten billion Uganda shillings to the Uganda Heart Institute, successively starting from the next financial year 2018/2019 to cater for improvement of the services at the institute.