South Africa to view live televised open heart surgery

The groundbreaking programme forms part of the HSFSA's Meet Wally's Heart Project, a one-week initiative aimed at getting South Africans to sit up and take notice of the very real threat of cardiovascular disease stemming from poor lifestyle choices.

Michelle Kearney, Director of Communications of the HSFSA, said the live surgery would be broadcast in a special transmission of SABC 3's 3 Talk with Noeleen on Saturday, 2 August 2008 between 20h00 and 22h00. It would be the first time that South African viewers are able to see this kind of operation broadcast in real time through every step of the process.

Said Kearney, “The Meet Wally's Heart Project is a heart health television education campaign aimed at reaching South Africans on a grand scale, making them aware of healthy diet and lifestyle choices to prevent future heart disease.”

In its entirety it will see a carefully selected candidate who presents with cardiovascular disease, undergoing pre-surgery tests, expert consultation and finally single bypass open heart surgery within a one week period. Progress and expert advice will be provided to the viewing public throughout the process via the popular talk show's episodes during the week commencing Monday, 28 July, leading up to surgery on Saturday, 2 August.

Kearney said the entire project had been backed by extensive research and planning. The HSFSA has been engaged in consultations with leading cardiologists and thoracic surgeons in Gauteng in preparation for the pioneering broadcast.

The surgery will be broadcast live from Netcare Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg with a camera crew placed inside the operating theatre for the duration of the single bypass. It will be interspersed with pre-recorded footage and crossovers to a custom studio environment located in close proximity to the operating room, where a panel of experts will be interviewed by host Noeleen Maholwane Sangqu, providing a commentary of what the surgeon is doing at every stage of the operation.

Kearney said rather than being sensationalist, the process was being handled in an extremely sensitive manner and that the overall integrity of the project and, most importantly the patient's right to be treated with dignity, would be upheld at all times. All regulations pertaining to the presence of the camera crew within the operating theatre were being adhered to, she said.

“It is a dramatic move, but one we view as totally necessary right now given the alarming incidences of heart disease in South Africa. We are extremely humbled to find there have been patients who are willing to share their story as their contribution towards making South Africans aware of what they can do in their everyday lives to prevent others from becoming yet another heart disease statistic,” said Kearney.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer affecting people at a younger age than ever before, and the most common cause of death in South Africa after HIV/AIDS. It is responsible for 19.8% of all deaths each year and one in three men and one in four women will suffer from heart-related illnesses before they reach 60.

A report released last year by the HSFSA in partnership with the Medical Research Council showed that while HIV/AIDS is currently ravaging the 18 - 35 age group in South Africa, the country was also losing a significant number in the working age group of 35 - 64 years due to cardiovascular disease. Actuarial projections also predict that heart disease and other chronic diseases will have increased by 2010, with a 41% increase in premature heart-related deaths expected between 2007 and 2030.

Shan Biesman-Simons, director of nutrition and education at the HSFSA, said while Project Wake Up did include a hefty shock factor, its main objective was to show South Africans what they could do to ensure the health of their own hearts.

“This graphic reality television screening will show that cardiovascular disease is a harsh reality, but a largely preventable one all the same.

“People have a fair degree of control over risk factors like stress, obesity, inactive lifestyles, poor nutrition, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and high blood cholesterol, all of which contribute significantly to the health of our hearts,” she said.

South Africans are now consuming a diet which is far higher in kilojoules, salt and animal fat, processed foods and added sugar, and far lower in fruit and vegetables and unrefined carbohydrates than in previous generations. Coupled with predominantly inactive lifestyles, none of this is good news for the heart,” said Biesman-Simons.

Small lifestyle changes and moderate physical activity like brisk walking, swimming, dancing or participating in non-competitive sports for just 30 minutes per day can reduce the risk of heart attack and give one three times the chance of surviving such an attack.

Kearney urged South Africans to take simple measures such as changing one's diet to a heart friendly one, incorporating exercise into their daily routine and getting to ‘know their numbers' by having their cholesterol, glucose and blood pressure levels tested regularly.

Currently about 195 South Africans - or 13 minibus loads - die each day because of some form of heart and blood vessel disease (cardiovascular disease). Of these, heart attacks are responsible for about 33 deaths per day and are twice as prevalent among men as in women, while about 60 people die a day due to strokes and about 37 due to heart failure. Other forms of cardiovascular disease claim 65 lives daily.

Visit www.meetmyheart.co.za.