Media Advisory
28 February 2020
Members of the media are hereby invited to cover and be part of the celebration of World Obesity Day to be hosted by the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University which will take place on Wednesday 4 March 2020.
The university’s participation in this international event marks its contribution towards the realisation of the UN’s Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 3 – which seeks to bring about healthy lives and promote well-being for all.
Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital (DGMAH)/SMU bariatric Surgery Unit has recently been accredited to perform metabolic and bariatric surgeries, making it the first public hospital in Gauteng to do this.
The performance of bariatric and metabolic surgeries represents an important advance in health care delivery in SA because it gives access to those who are poor but also in need of this life changing surgery.
“By hosting an event of this nature, we have a responsibility as a health sciences institution to take the lead in raising awareness and educating communities around obesity, its contribution to lifestyle diseases, how it affects quality of life and to deal with the stigma related to it”, says Dr Eric Pule, Director Marketing and Communication.
There will be free health assessment services on the day such as Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure and sugar tests. These tests will help identify those that are at risk of contracting obesity related illnesses and will also identify what should be done about the diagnoses.
Members of the media will also have an opportunity to interview those that were once obese and whose lives were seriously transformed for the better, by undergoing bariatric Surgery. The Unit is headed by Prof Zack Koto – a world renowned weight loss expert who will also interact with the media for more information around obesity.
Details are as follows:
Date 04 March 2020
Venue: Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University Library lawn (Garankuwa)
Time: 10h00 am
Please RSVP by 03 March 2020 by forwarding your names to Phaladi.Seakgwe@smu.ac.za/ seakgwe@gmail.com/eric.pule@smu.ac.za
Ends
Issued by the Marketing and Communication Department.
For more details and enquiries please contact Dr Eric Pule: Director, Marketing and Communication email: eric.pule@smu.ac.za Cell 0635035587 phone 012 521 4563
Website: www.smu.ac.za
Download: Media-Advisory-world-obesity-day-SMU-28-Feb-2020
The first Bariatric Surgery (or weight loss surgery) Unit of Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) has been recently established at Dr. George Mukhari Academic Hospital (DGMAH). This collaboration between the Gauteng Department of Health and SMU Department of Surgery represents an important advance in bringing this type of surgery within reach of the poor. The surgery also represents the multidisciplinary approach to the management of a patient with morbid obesity where surgeons, physicians, anesthetists, psychologists and other disciplines all contribute to the initial screening, workup and ongoing management and surgery of these patients.
The Bariatric surgery workshop held at SMU provided a real-time information for the numerous attendees including professors, specialists and doctors from both the public and private sectors as well as students. Unit head Professor Zach Koto said, “The surgery includes a variety of procedures performed on people who have morbid obesity. The weight loss is achieved by reducing the size of the stomach making it the size of an egg and re-routing the small intestine to a small stomach pouch. Patients are still advised to eat healthy afterwards because the surgery does the 50% and healthy eating does the rest”.
Prof Koto said the other type of bariatric procedure is reducing the size of the stomach by two-thirds (70%) in a procedure called sleeve gastrectomy. “This works by two mechanisms, Firstly, it reduces the size of the stomach so that the patient eats less. Secondly, it reduces the hunger hormones where the patient does not feel hungry”, he emphasised.
Obesity is a significant public health problem in South Africa with serious potential metabolic complications. “One out of three patients in South Africa is obese and this leads to diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and arthritis, hence it is important for a patient to go through a proper screening process before they can be considered for bariatric surgery which is a complete life style change for the patients. What is intriguing is that bariatric surgery is able to permanently cure diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea and other obesity related comorbid conditions” added Prof Koto.
SMU through the department of surgery is spearheading the registration and accreditation of a qualification in Bariatric and minimal access surgery in South Africa. Koto said the service would help the government to save money as it could cure diabetes and ensure that there were no more premature deaths. He further said that the procedure had to be looked at, and be made available to the public throughout the country.
Prof Dhaneshwar Bhagwandass, Clinical Head in the Department of Anaesthesiology at SMU and DGMAH, welcomed the opportunity for the team involved in this venture to grow professionally as individuals and as members of a team. “Bringing such initiatives to the public sector, and succeeding, proves that collaborative efforts from clinicians can improve the lives of all South Africans,”emphasised Prof Bhagwandass.
After the presentations at the workshop, the audience was shown live Roux Y gastric bypass procedure on eight patients. This was done using the state-of-the-art 3D laparoscopic camera system in the high-tech room in the department of surgery at SMU. It was transmitted a distance from theatre at DGMAH to the Clinical Pathology Building (SMU). All the patients did well and were discharged two days later.
At this workshop, they also showcased the 4k (ultra-high definition) camera system. This interactive live surgery symposium is a significant education tool which is a growing intervention for learning and professional development. Attendees came from all over the country and some surgeons came all the way from
Namibia. Members of the SMU Surgical Students Society were also in attendance
