A surgery campaign launched in June by the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK) ended last week with more than 2,000 patients benefiting from either major or minor surgeries.

The campaign, which was taken to different parts of the country, targeted people with surgical diseases in the country.

At a news briefing at CHUK, on Friday, Dr Jean Claude Byiringiro, a consultant general surgeon at the hospital, said the campaign, which he said ended successfully, was a pilot phase to guide similar drives.

"At the beginning, it was unbelievable since there were a lot of patients who were waiting for us. We were few that we had to use a lot of effort to serve all that turned up during screenings,” Dr Byiringiro said.

He added that the plan is to ensure the campaign is continuous owing to the impact of the three-month pilot phase made.

Dr Faustin Ntirenganya, who headed the programme, commended the commitment by the medical team.

"We worked overtime to make sure people benefitted. We found people who had lived with ailments for long,” Dr Ntirenganya said.

"For instance, you would find a person who has spent 15 years waiting for the treatment.”

He cited other challenges such as lack of equipment and general infranstructure that hampered their ability to work at some facilities.

"We only worked with three referral hospitals because they are the ones that had the facilities we needed. This is one of the challenges we met, otherwise we look forward to continue carrying out this programme after every three months,” Ntirenganya said.

During the outreach programme, 2,174 people were operated on.

The programme took place at Ruhengeri, Rwamagana, Kibungo and at the main hospital, CHUK.

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