MoH, Apollo sign OTS agreement
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday September 12, 2014 15:59
In an interview with Mmegi, MoH representative Dr Khumo Seipone said entered government entered the partnership with Apollo Hospitals because organ transplant services were critically needed in the country.
She said that MoH had seen it fit to partner with those with capacity to provide the much-needed expertise like Apollo, to do organ transplants in Botswana patients.
“It is in this context that we have identified Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited specialists as our partners to provide Organ Transplant Services to our nation.
“We have been struggling as a country to do transplants as we do not have specialists. This partnership also marks an important step, as we would know where to take our patients for transplants unlike in the past where the government paid a lot of money. Here, even though the services would be paid for, they would be reasonable,” Seipone said.
She said MoH together with Princess Marina Hospital sent three Batswana patients for organ transplants at Apollo Hospitals in India. The operations were successful.
Seipone explained two of the patients had returned to Botswana while the other one was left behind for assessment. The patient had two organ transplants – that of the liver and kidney.
She, however, pointed out they were confident he would get better and be able to join his family soon.
She said even though the government was willing to assist Batswana in health problems, Organ Transplant Services were expensive, so patients were assessed and priorities considered before sending them to Apollo.
“Organ transplant is a challenge all over the world. At times it is very hard to save a life, more especially when our patients do not find donors. We need live donors from either relatives or a match willing to donate their organs,” she said.
Dr Seipone said that they had been sending patients for other organ transplants to South Africa (SA) where they did bone marrow and eye transplants. Apollo will be providing Batswana patients with kidney and liver transplants.
A representative from Apollo Hospitals, Vinee Ahoha, said they had been working with other African countries for 10 years. He noted they were impressed by Botswana’s dedication and love for its people as they had been working with MoH for about two and half years.
“I am proud and happy with this partnership as it marks the beginning of a strong bond between the Ministry of Health and the Apollo Hospitals Group. We have recently had three patients from this country and I am proud to announce that the operation procedures where successful. The patients are recovering very well,” he said.
Ahoha said they hoped in future to build an Organ Transplant Centre in Botswana where everything would be done locally instead of flying abroad.
He said Apollo had been in existence for 30 years and opened 50 hospitals and 1,500 retail pharmacies in India.
Apollo Hospitals was inaugurated at Chennai, India in 1983. In 1984 it commenced commercial operations. Upon its establishment in 1983, the hospital started its first cardiac surgery (Atrial Septal Defect), while in 1984 it conducted its first kidney transplant. Since then Apollo Hospitals have been known as one of the best medical companies that provide the finest organ transplant services in the world.