Reports coming out of South Africa have revealed the country’s surgical backlog stands at more than 175,000.
The country’s Health Department said the surgical backlog has been caused by a temporary suspension of activity during the Covid-19 pandemic and told its Parliament this week that plans were in place for all its provinces to catch up.
Many of the outstanding procedures are orthopaedic and gynaecological operations, with waiting times ranging from two weeks to seven years.
Individuals in need of cataract extraction are reportedly facing waits of up to three years.
But the Health Department’s Nonhlanhla Makhanya says theatre hours are being extended to include weekends, to help reduce the backlog.
South African news organisation Eyewitness News quoted Dr Makhanya as saying: "Provinces are conducting outreach surgical teams to provide services in most provinces and there is also use of private hospital theatres through a dedicated grant, using a public-private partnership initiative."
Dr Makhanya said patients were also being booked six months in advance where possible.
She added: "The waiting list is consistently being reviewed, and monthly monitoring of the waiting period is being done across all facilities."
Currently, more than 77,000 surgeries are waiting to be carried out in the Western Cape and Limpopo has more than 45,000 outstanding surgeries.
The smallest number of outstanding surgeries are in the Free State, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.
