• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu reads the Times of Zambia newspaper at Maina Soko Military Hospital
yesterday. On the right is Daniel Siwo, his Private Secretary. Picture by SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE
By XAVIER MANCHISHI –
THE medical team attending to President Edgar Lungu has recommended that he undergoes a high-tech medical procedure abroad.
The medical team was exploring options of correcting the narrowing of the food pipe that led to the illness of the President on Sunday.
The high-tech medical procedure is currently unavailable in Zambia prompting the medical team to recommend that he should be referred abroad for specialised treatment.
The President’s Special Assistant for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda announced the recommendations of the medical team at a briefing at State House in Lusaka yesterday but could not state when the President would travel and which country he had been referred to.
Mr Chanda said the President was still under observation at Maina Soko Military Hospital.
“The President is in good condition and the nation shall be informed on further developments,” said Mr Chanda who was flanked by President Lungu’s special advisor for politics Kaiser Zulu and State House Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Chilubanama.
Mr Chanda said President Lungu had a history of Achalasia, a condition of the narrowing of the food pipe.
“The nation may wish to know that President Lungu has a history of the narrowing of the food pipe, medically known as achalasia, which was corrected 30 years ago at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH),” Mr Chanda said.
The tests have revealed that the condition may have recurred and could have led to the low sugar condition the President experienced during the Women’s Day event on Sunday.
A team of senior doctors comprising physicians, surgeons, pathologists, and radiologists, reviewed the findings and recommended immediate correction of the condition.
The statement about the President’s condition was authorised by Dr Dorothy Kasonde and Dr Dave Kishore on behalf the team of doctors attending to Mr Lungu.
Mr Lungu, fell ill on Sunday while officiating at the International Women’s Day celebrations at Heroes National Stadium.
The presumptive diagnosis revealed traces of malaria and low blood sugar level.
During his observation and treatment, the low sugar level was corrected and the President was able to address the parade on the podium at Heroes Stadium.
The President was later taken to Maina Soko Military Hospital for medical tests and observation where tests ruled out full malaria infection.
