HARARE – A group of Chinese doctors operating at Parirenyatwa Hospital have helped put into use, a piece of gastroscopy and colonoscopy equipment which was lying idle for long due to lack of trained medical personnel to run the machine.
The machine, acquired from China years back, was not being used owing to lack of endoscopic technicians.
Due to the lack of endoscopic technicians, the relevant technology had not been carried out on patients for years and was gathering dust in the corner of the department warehouse for a long time.
Harare is located on a plateau.
Local people often suffer from gastrointestinal diseases, lack of proper medical treatment and resort to taking painkillers, which are risk factors for gastrointestinal diseases and even cancer.
“The Chinese medical team is determined to help them apply this technology and improve the hospital’s technical level,” one of the doctors told ZimLive in an interview.
“Together with Dr. Mugwangi of General Surgery Department Changa of PAH Hospital, we watched videos during the rest time, adjusted the machine, and repeated practical operation simulation,” he said.
It has emerged that in the first month, more than 10 cases of gastroscopy were carried out, and 2 cases of early cancer were screened.
Later, colonoscopy was carried out successively.
So far, more than 200 cases of gastroenteroscopy have been completed in 7 months.
Colon polyps resection under colonoscopy, hemostasis under endoscopy and diagnosis of gastrointestinal tumors were successfully carried out.
“Led by Dr. Luo Wen of Gastrointestinal Surgery, with the active assistance of Dr. Zeng Mingqiang of urology and Dr. Hu Rui of Imaging Department, we copied a large number of videos of gastroenteroscopy operation from China.
The 10 doctors form the Asian country’s 19th delegation of medical specialists seconded to Zimbabwe on a government to government basis.
