100 heart patients risk dying annually while waiting for treatment

By: Selma Taapopi

Health ministry executive director, Ben Nangombe, says about 100 young heart patients could die annually while waiting for healthcare. Nangombe said 550 heart patients are currently on the treatment waiting list, and not all receive treatment on time.

He said while the ministry has the capacity to treat heart patients locally, the demand for cardiac care far exceeds available resources.

Nangombe made these remarks at Windhoek Central Hospital while receiving the country’s first top-of-the-line Vivid E95 cardiac ultrasound machine to improve paediatric and congenital heart disease care.

“In Namibia, data indicates a troubling trend. Annually, the Windhoek Central Hospital attends to approximately 3,000 children suspected of or diagnosed with congenital heart disease. These cases are often referrals from regions all over the country, demonstrating the extensive reach of this health burden”.
He added: While we strive to provide timely interventions, the reality is that approximately 550 patients remain on a waiting list for critical procedures such as transcatheter surgical interventions and other life-saving surgeries. Tragically, as many as 100 of these young patients each year may lose their lives, awaiting a procedure that could save their lives. Some of the factors are capacity constraints,” stated Nangombe.

The donation of the machine to the Namibia National Children’s Heart Trust is a collaborative effort between FNB, the Capricorn Foundation, and the Pupkewitz Foundation.

Dr. Fenny Shidhika, founder of the Trust and a Paediatric and Congenital Cardiologist at the Windhoek Central Hospital, explained that the organisation was established to support the Ministry in providing affordable and accessible care for Namibians born with congenital heart conditions, regardless of their socio-economic background.

“We have serviced more than 300 surgical patients so far with good survival rates as well as transcatheter procedures, we performed that,”said Shidhika.

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