Guyana’s first kidney transplant will be done on a Lusignan boy and surgery is scheduled for July 12 at the Georgetown Public Hospital and will be led by a team of doctors from New York aided by local medical staff, said Health Minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
After disclosing news about the ground-breaking local procedure last week, Ramsammy said yesterday that the patient is a young boy from Lusignan, East Coast Demerara whose donor is his mother.
In a press release from the Ministry of Health Ramsammy said the procedure will likely reduce the trips local patients suffering from kidney failure make abroad, and now that the option would be available persons can look beyond dialysis.
“We have a dialysis centre here, but dialysis is a stop gap. It does not work for some people and they need transplant,” Ramsammy was quoted as saying.
He said the new development augurs well for progress in the local sector, adding that two dialysis centres are expected to open within the next year – one before the end of 2008.
Further, Ramsammy pointed to efforts being made across the sector noting the introduction of open heart surgery, among others.
Kidney disease cases continue to climb in Guyana with younger patients emerging among the groups at risk. Ramsammy had noted that diabetes is responsible for many of the kidney complaints in the country.
