Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (Qech) has become the first medical centre in Malawi to have the state-of-the-art neurosurgery equipment, courtesy of the Germany-based Right Brain Foundation.

Speaking on Wednesday in Blantyre after receiving the equipment, Secretary for Health Charles Mwansambo expressed his excitement saying the Image Guided Neurosurgery Navigation (IGNN) equipment worth over €350 000 (about K360 million) will change the landscape of neurosurgical care in Malawi.

“I am excited with this equipment that we have received today. It will help our surgeons get to the right spot of operation and this will serve a lot of lives and expose the patients to minimum harm. It will also reduce hospital stays and the need for repeat operations arising from complications or incomplete operations,” he said.

Mwansambo pledged to work with Qech management to create enough space so that it is able to accommodate more neuro patients.

Qech head of neurosurgery department Professor Patrick Kamalo said the equipment will be able to serve about six neuro patients a month. 

Last year, the department conducted over 550 neurosurgeries and over 300 this year, ranging from those with brain tumours, road accident victims and children with water in the brain (Hydrochephulus). 

For us, this is a very interesting development and it changes the dimension of our work, as you know the brain is a very sensitive organ and we need to be precise,” said Kamalo.  

University hospital in Ulm, Germany, neurosurgeon Professor Thomas Kapapa said the donation was part of their commitment to improving neurosurgical treatment in Malawi.

“This is the first step in a long way to improving neurosurgical treatment not only at Qech but the whole country. We are happy that we can serve the people of Malawi for a long time,” he said.

Right Brain Foundation is a charitable arm of the BrainLab company, manufacturer of the BrainLab neuro-navigation system, in Germany.

The donation was made possible through collaboration with the Department of Neurosurgery of the University of Ulm in Germany. 

IGNN is a high-end technology which makes minimally invasive and precision neurosurgery operations possible, thereby reducing complications of the operations.

CAPTION

Mwansambo (R) shakes hands with Right Brain Foundation’s Mike Teron as Kamalo (L) and Kapapa look on.

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