In early February 2024, the Rotary Club of Suva supported Dr Rustem Dautov, Senior Interventional cardiologist at Queensland’s Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, Australia to come to Fiji to volunteer his expertise to perform heart surgeries at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) in Suva, Fiji.
Dr Dautov is regarded as one of Australia's foremost operators in the field of Chronic Total Occlusion (blocked arteries). He is one of the world’s leading exponents of opening up such arteries and is internationally sought after to treat and train local doctors in the procedure.
Rotary is honoured that of his own accord, he has volunteered to work in Fiji at the CWMH Cathlab with our local colleagues. This will be an incredible learning experience for the Fiji team and another milestone in our journey to build much needed local capacity in tertiary cardiac services for the country.
Dr Dautov comes highly recommended by Rotarian Dr Vijay Kapadia for his expertise and how fortunate Fiji is to have him for two days to have Fiji patients seen by him. CWMH Interventional Cardiologist Dr Shahin Nusair's team has a list of patients for him to treat eight hear patients over the two days. Dr Kapadia has been volunteering his time in Fiji for heart surgeries since 2001.
Heart disease is the biggest killer in Fiji with over 1,000 cases reported each year. General and Interventional Cardiologist based at the Gold Coast University Hospital in Australia and former Fiji resident, Dr Kapadia has come back to Fiji every year with a team of medical volunteers to conduct free heart surgeries for those who could not otherwise afford it. The cathlab at Fiji's major hospital which Dr Dautov used for surgeries was installed through the support of the Rotary Clubs of Nunawading in Melbourne, Australia and the Rotary Club of Suva.