The government needs at least 50 to 60 medical practitioners in the area of Cardiopulmonary Bypass to take up positions as surgeons, cardiologists and anaesthetists for its seven Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia and Perfusion service centres in the country.

Deputy director-general of Health Dr S Jeyaindran said there is a need for more surgeons to treat in the area of cardiovascular or heart-related disease.

“At present, there is a shortage of cardio surgeons but a high number of those with cardiovascular disease.

“There have been complaints that patients are not getting the treatment they require, but the professionals look at the patient’s health aspect, if one needs a major heart surgery than they would be given first priority,” he said during the 9th Biennial Conference on Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Dr Jeyaindran also said that all these seven centres would offer a RM500 medical fee for all its patients to undergo a cardiopulmonary bypass surgery.

Serdang Hospital, one of the seven heart centres, has progressed to be one of the best cardiothoracic centre in the country.

“With only a few surgeons and a handlful of anaesthetists and perfusionists, Serdang Hospital has now grown immensely in terms of human resources and infrastructure and achieved up to 500 open heart surgeries per year and is slowly growing,” Dr Jeyaindran added.

Meanwhile, the seven heart centres within the Health Ministry are the Sarawak General Hospital, Serdang Hospital, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, and the newer ones namely Raja Perempuan Zainab II in Kota Baru and Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Penang Hospital and the Sultan Aminah Hospital in Johor Baru.

On the diphtheria virus, Dr Jeyaindran when asked by Bernama said the ministry was currently studying the possibilities on why adults were contracting the virus despite having received vaccination.

Jeyaindran said that the government had a meeting to relook the case after a 41-year-old woman from Negri Sembilan became the first adult to contract the virus.

“All these years, people are vaccinated and they are fine till adulthood. Now there seems to be a pool of people not vaccinated and now there is diphtheria in adults in a highly developed nation,” he added.

- Bernama