During the 2026 African Synergy Health Mandela Week Surgical Marathon, urology specialists from UKZN performed 74 surgeries, addressing the backlog of elective procedures in KwaZulu-Natal's public healthcare system.
The collaborative efforts of healthcare professionals, urology specialists and trainees from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) resulted in vital surgical care being provided to 74 patients during the KwaZulu-Natal leg of the 2026 African Synergy Health (ASH) Mandela Week Surgical Marathon.
The initiative, which ran from July 6 to 10, saw surgical teams operating at both the Victoria Mxenge–St Aidan’s Hospital Tertiary Complex in Durban and Ngwelezana Provincial Tertiary Hospital in Empangeni.
The programme focused on addressing the substantial backlog of patients awaiting elective procedures within the public healthcare system.
Over five days, the teams performed complex urological surgeries, including correcting congenital birth defects, reconstructing damaged urethras, and removing cancer-affected kidneys or testes
