WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th July, 2023) A group of cardiology specialists from the US-based Cardiac Alliance will start two pediatric heart surgery programs in Uzbekistan this fall, the group's team leader and renowned surgeon Bill Novick told Sputnik.
"There are two separate projects - one in Tashkent and one in Nukus," Novick said shortly after his preparatory visit to Uzbekistan earlier in July.
Novick pointed out that he met with Uzbek Minister of Health Amrillo Inoyatov during his stay in Tashkent. He also discussed future projects with the Director and Chief Medical Officer of the National Children's Medical Center in Tashkent Maksud Saidov and Bakhtiyorjon Umarov, as well as with the Rector of the Medical University of Karakalpakstan in Nukus Oral Ataniyazova.
"The minister made it pretty clear that he wanted these programs to start in September. No questions asked," he said.
The Cardiac Alliance team performs pediatric heart surgeries in different countries around the world as well as complex surgeries whose main goal is to train local physicians to enable them to work independently.
The group's plan for Uzbekistan suggests that the visiting cardiologists will do four one-month trips over the course of a year, splitting them between Tashkent and Nukus. However, specific dates remain unclear due to scheduling and other as-of-yet unresolved issues.
Novick said he was "very transparent" during his talks with Inoyatov and explained that it is not possible to establish a continuously functioning pediatric heart surgery program in Nukus based on four month-long trips. Establishing such programs usually lasts four or five years, he said.
"There is no pediatric cardiologist over there, we have to train one. There is no pediatric intensivist over there and we have to train him as well," he said.
Novick also said that the team plans to undertake two trips to Uzbekistan in late February and in May-June of next year.
The Cardiac Alliance is comprised of medical specialists from different countries who usually work in different states, including in so-called "hot spots" around the world.
