The first ever successful removal of kidney stones by a team of Malawians has been done at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe.
Consultant Urologist in Malawi Dr. Charles Mabedi said the Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy (PCNL) operation to remove stones from the kidney was conducted on Thursday at Malawi’s largest referral hospital.
“Today we celebrate our first ever successful PCNL done entirely by the local team. Well done @Kamuzu central hospital. Thanks to Mr Graham Watson for the excellent mentorship,” he tweeted and added a picture of five people involved in the surgery.
Today we celebrate out first ever successful PCNL done entirely by the local team. Well done @Kamuzu central hospital. Thanks to Mr Graham Watson for the excellent mentorship.@SurgeonsOf @urolink @BAUSurology @SuzieVenn pic.twitter.com/3vVxdcUVs5
— Charles Mabedi (@MabediCharles) May 5, 2022
Malawians have since hailed the team for the achievement.
“Celebrating a huge win for my lovely friend, the woman who will be Malawi’s first female Urologist, @_LindaVictoria_. Congratulations to the team on the country’s first percutaneous nephrolithotripsy.🥳 #womeninsurgery @womeninsurgery,” tweeted Grace Mzumara.
“Takes of hope. Consolidating our faith…in no-one else, but in ourselves. We keep pushing,” said Fatsani Gunya.
Another Twitter user said: “Congratulations 👏🎉👏….we know we are in safe hands…God bless you all,” said another Twitter user.
According to the website for British Association for Urological Surgeons – BAUS (https://www.baus.org.uk), KCH serves as a national urology referral centre handling urological conditions such as benign prostate enlargement, urethral strictures, bladder cancer, paediatric urology and prostate cancer.
The urology service is led by Dr Charles Mabedi who returned to Malawi in January 2020, after a two-year fellowship in the UK.
Until November 2016, the only urology service in Malawi was offered by expatriate urologists, according to BAUS. The change in 2016 came after the first Malawian urologists graduated after being trained outside the country.
In January 2019, the first urology trainees were enrolled to train at KCH and they are expected to complete their training in December 2023.
