Malian and French surgeons on Monday performed the first open heart surgery of the West African country, with more such operations scheduled for later this year.
The surgery was performed on a six-year-old girl, Fanta Diarra, who had been diagnosed with a heart condition when she was just a baby.
Following the successful surgery, the medics expressed their hope that many more life-saving operations for Malians will be done in the country, rather than having the patients travel abroad to receive such treatment.
“I am happy that I will be operated on. I will be like the other children, I will be able to work, and get married,” the excited girl said before the surgery.
Around 2,500 other patients are also awaiting surgery, 50 of whom will be operated on before the end of the year at a new cardio-pediatric unit at a hospital in Bamako, opened by the French medical association La Chaine de l’Espoir.
“It’s a big day for us. This is the first open-heart surgery, but behind this surgery there are hundreds and hundreds of children who are waiting, so we know this is not the end,” said Professor Alain Deloche, a cardiac surgeon and founder of La Chaine de l’Espoir.
The aim is for French surgical teams to perform the operations, while also training Malian surgeons.
“I can see in the eyes of these young Malian surgeons something that looks like pride,” he added.
Malian cardio-vascular surgeon, Doctor Baba Ibrahima Diarra, said local teams needed help initially because the operation was new in the country.
“The final goal is to be independent in time, to be completely autonomous,” he added.
