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Thursday March 28, 2024

14th Surgical Week for Colorectal Diseases ends

By M. Waqar Bhatti
October 18, 2019

The 14th Surgical Week for the Colorectal Diseases concluded at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) on Thursday during which top of the line European surgeons performed right live surgeries, which were witnessed by hundreds of Pakistani surgeons in six cities of the country over the last four days.

“We carried out eight surgeries for the treatment of colon and rectal cancers, hemorrhoids and the repair of fistula, which were witnessed live by hundreds of surgeons and they learnt about keyhole procedure to perform cancer surgeries. It was a fun doing surgeries at the JPMC. Pakistan is a beautiful and peaceful country with great medical institutions like the JPMC,” said Prof Yves Panis from France, who trained hundreds of surgeons on the laparoscopic surgery technique.

Prof R John Nicholls from England performed a surgery that was witnessed by hundreds of doctors and health practitioners in six major cities of the country. Officials and organisers of the event said the exercise was aimed at training Pakistani surgeons in this area as around 40 percent of all patients of colorectal diseases required surgery.

People suffering from colorectal diseases, including colon cancer, hemorrhoids, fistula and inflammatory bowel disease, regularly come to JPMC from across Pakistan for the surgical treatment as only a few advanced health facilities in the country has trained and qualified surgeons and facilities to treat these diseases in their advanced stages.

Dr Seemin Jamali, executive director of the JPMC, thanked the visiting surgeons for arriving in Pakistan, performing live surgeries and giving lectures to Pakistani doctors, saying local doctors learnt a lot from them and they would always be thankful to their foreign mentors.

She also presented the visitors with shields and gifts on behalf of the JPMC as well as doctors from different institutions of Pakistan, and hoped that they would continue to visit Pakistan for the sharing of their expertise and experiences with local doctors.

Prof Shamim Qureshi, the organiser of the Surgical Week for the Colorectal Diseases, said that the live surgery experience proved an effective tool for local doctors, surgeons and other health practitioners, giving them a first- hand opportunity to learn from the world’s best professionals of the area.

He maintained that surgeons from France, the UK and Ireland visited the JPMC to perform live surgeries at the JPMC, which was attended by over 500 surgeons from entire Pakistan, while these surgeries were shown live in six cities of the country.

Prof Nicholls, while sharing his experience and highlighting the importance of such events, said that the number of patients affected by colorectal diseases was increasing and there was an immense need to go for better technological support and surgical cure for quick and effective results.

“Under the exiting practice in Pakistan, there are some major issues which are needed to be addressed through latest technological support,” he said.