Heart Operations Cost a Killer

While 20 heart patients in need of open heart surgery were listed for the 1st operation of such medical procedure at the Pacific International Hospital in Port Moresby, only 4 of the patients could afford the even discounted cost according Dr Amyna Sultan of the hospital.

Dr Sultan said with the limitations of resources, technical expertise and medical equipment, the cost of such medical procedure in the country is around K65 000. While there was a discount with the operation cost being cut to K45 000 for each patients to access the operation, only 4 could afford.
Dr Sultan said the cost is to cater also for the team of cardiac specialist who had to be flown into the country for the procedures. While Sultan said the cost of operation will be reduced when more people access the services to spread the cost, she says PIH is a public-private hospital and the government must also subsidize the cost for people to access such lifesaving procedure.
Meanwhile, the cardiac team that flew in from India included Chief Surgeon Dr Anil Jain, Cardiac Surgeon Dr Rajan Moai and Cardiac Aesthetician Dr Naman Suaitri who said much could be done if operation necessities were made available.

According to Chief Surgeon Dr Jain, his team operates on 8-10 patients per day in India. This is a big gap for PNG with Operation Open Heart Surgeries being conducted once in a year. For a country like India, the cost of such operation spans around USD 1500 – USD 10 000 (K5000 – K33 000 roughly).
While Papua New Guineans who can afford such medical services are traveling out of the country to access health services that the country cannot provide, the concern is for the government of the day to consider strategies that make such health service affordable for the vast population whose annual income do even exceed K10 000.