The second local kidney transplant surgery will be done at the Georgetown Public Hospital on February 2, seven months after the first groundbreaking operation was completed.
A city-based man in his fifties will receive a kidney from one of his relatives.
US transplant surgeon Dr Rahul Jindal will lead the same team of professionals who performed the first surgery for the second operation, according to Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who made the disclosure yesterday.
The minister said that the local kidney transplant programme is expanding, and the aim is to formalise it as a regular part of the menu of services provided by the public hospital. However, he said this does not translate to the health sector being able to meet the demands of all Guyanese who require kidney transplants.
He said patients will still have to travel abroad for kidney transplants, but pointed out that the sector is currently building capacity. The minister opined that in about five years the health sector will be developed to the stage where it can meet the demands of patients in need of kidney transplants across the country, and on a regular basis.
Ramsammy noted that the decision was taken to use the same team of doctors, who have been invited back to work closely with several Guyanese doctors. He pointed out that the ministry takes several factors into consideration when selecting patients for the surgery, adding that the focus is not always on age and need.
He said it was currently limited in terms of choices because the surgery requires that the patient has a compatible donor, adding that persons who make it to the top of the list do so because they have managed to produce a compatible donor.
The US-based team of doctors will also hold a clinic while here, the minister added.
The overseas medical team will include the Indian-born Dr Jindal of Brookdale University Hospital; Dr Edward Falta, Transplant Surgeon of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Washington; Dr Melenie Guerero, Pulmonary Care Physician; Laura Owens Transplant Coordinator, and Dr Arthur L. Womble attached to the Athens-Limestone Hospital, Athens, Alabama.
