Major public hospitals providing cardiac care services in the country have halted routine heart surgeries due to a shortage of oxygenators, a medical device for oxygenating the blood.

According to the administration office of Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre, the primary centre for cardiac treatment, routine heart surgeries have been put on hold due to shortages of the key medical apparatus.

“We will resume surgery services once we get the devices,” said Dr Chandra Mani Adhikari, director at the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre. “We have postponed surgeries of 45 patients, who were in the queue for surgery. We will call them once we secure the devices from the supplier.”

An oxygenator is a medical apparatus that removes carbon dioxide and adds oxygen to the blood that is pumped into the arterial system. This is an essential device for heart surgeries, as it functions as an artificial lung.

Adhikari said that his hospital (Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre) had awarded a tender in April and the supplier had to bring the devices from Italy.

“We are informed that the devices are on the way,” said Adhikari. “We expect delivery in less than a month.”

The hospital used to carry out six to eight routine heart surgeries daily.

Adhikari said that emergency surgeries and surgeries of the children, however, have continued.

Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre is not the only cardiac care facility to have been affected due to the shortage of oxygenators.

Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre said it has also failed to secure sufficient devices to continue routine cardiac surgeries.

“We have not yet halted routine surgeries, but we do not have the devices to carry out more operations,” said Dr Uttam Krishna Shrestha, director at the Centre.

Officials at Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital in Bharatpur also said they are facing a similar problem. The hospital has halted cardiac surgeries for quite a while due to a lack of the medical device.

“The supplier has not been able to supply the devices,” an official at the hospital management told the post, asking not to be named because he was not authorised to speak with the media.

Members of the public seek services in the said three hospitals because of quality service and reasonable cost of the services.

Private hospitals providing cardiac care services, however, said that they have not faced a shortage of the medical device.

“We have sufficient devices including oxygenators in stock,” said Rajendra Bahadur Singh, executive director of Norvic International Hospital.

Private health facilities, however, are out of reach for many Nepalis because they are expensive.

Officials at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre and Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre argued that Nepal is not the only country to face shortages of oxygenators.

“Due to huge demands worldwide, suppliers have been unable to deliver the equipment on time,” said Adhikari, director of Gangalal Hospital. “Many hospitals like ours might have started routine surgeries that were halted during the Covid-19 pandemic leading to a surge in the demand for the device essential for open heart surgeries.”

Hospitals in India too have been reeling under the short supply of oxygenators, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, officials at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre and Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre have held discussions with officials at the Ministry of Health and Population about the short supply of oxygenators and sought government help.

“The government has allocated budgets to the hospitals and it is their duty to procure the devices on time,” said Dr Roshan Pokhrel, secretary at the Health Ministry. “Hospitals can procure equipment worth up to Rs200 million on their own and it is the responsibility of the concerned hospitals to ensure they have devices in stock to ensure there is no disruption of services.”