GAUTENG. – Over 300 surgeries were carried out by 23 Gauteng hospitals on Tuesday, 29 August during the second surgical marathon by the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH).
This follows the very first surgical marathon which took place on Mandela Day where over 700 surgeries were performed by over 20 hospitals in the province in one day.
GDoH says: “The surgical procedures performed today include amongst others, arthroplasty, inguinal hernia repair, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, replacement of obturator post-hemi maxillectomy, Varicocelectomy, Bartholin Cystectomy, umbilical incisional hernia and scoliosis.”
The surgeries are part of the GDoH’s commitment to have surgical marathons every month.
“The department already surpassed its target on Mandela by performing 728 surgeries. In addition, between 09 July to 25 August 2023, 10 955 surgeries have been successfully performed,” GDoH said.
The department said that surgical marathons are not only for reducing backlogs but for restoring dignity to hundreds of patients.
“The surgical marathon is not only about reducing the backlog faced by health facilities across the province but also about building capacity and skills transfer among health practitioners.”
