By Simon Naulele
Dr. Vivek Jawali, Chairman Cardiac science at Fortis Hospitals Bangalore, India has been presented with Heal The Planet Global Organization Top Prestigious (HTP) Award from Uganda.
The award presented at the sidelines of the United Nations Convention to combat desertification, land degradation and drought at India Expo Centre and Mart that began on 29th August ending13th September 2019 is in recognition for Dr. Jawali’s extraordinary contribution in the health industry.
Dr. Vivek Jawali according to the statement from HTP has successfully been responsible for operating many senior citizens of Uganda for high risk heart surgeries.
He has also deeply touched the lives of over 30,000 people including many celebrities and doctors who have been operated by him.
Handing over the HTP Award to him, HTP President Earnest Benjamin Kivumbi awarding Dr Jawali at UN Convention was to honor him for the services that he has given to Uganda and the world.
“Dr. Jawali is an outstanding asset that the world should applaud,” said Mr Kivumbi.
Also present at the ceremony was Private Secretary to the President of the Republic of Uganda in Charge of Political Affairs and Head of Documentation Department, Ms. Judith Obina Okumu.
Who is Dr Vivek Jawali?
Born on April 13th 1953, at Barshi, Vivekanand Siddaramappa Jawali spent his childhood on the family farm in and around Barshi.
His schooling was in Marathi, at the Sulake Prathamik Shala and Sulake High School.
An average student, Vivekanand was passionate about painting and was a favorite with his painting teachers.
He was also a voracious reader and writer and many of his writings & cartoons were published in Marati children’s magazines.
He learnt English during his college days. He passed his MBBS from MR Medical College, Gulbarga in 1975, bagging the first rank and a gold medal in Surgery.
He was also awarded the “best all round outgoing student” with an M.S from JJ M Medical College, Davengere.
He worked briefly as an assistant professor in surgery in M.R Medical College, Gulbarga.
He then worked with the celebrated vascular surgeon Dr. T.P Kulkarni as his clinical assistant at the Bombay hospital, where he fine-tuned his vascular surgery skills.
He developed sound foundations of peripheral vascular & aortic surgery & also became a skilled angiographer.
In 1981, he joined the MCH program at the KEM Hospital & Seth GS Medical College in Bombay & was trained by Dr D.B Parulekar, Dr.Sharad Pandey and Dr S.S Bhattacharya.
Recognizing his talent, the Government of Karnataka invited him to shoulder the responsibility of establishing the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology – a dream project of the then Government of Karnataka.
Reciprocating this honor, he shifted to Bangalore in September 1984, giving up lucrative career opportunities in Bombay.
Bangalore at that time was medically primitive, thereby posing a greater challenge to Dr.Jawali.
Undeterred by the hurdles, his passion held forth and he, along with Dr. Chinnaiah struggled hard and laid a solid foundation for creating one of the finest cardiac teaching institutions and the largest Government teaching heart hospital of India The Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology.
In 1988, he met Mr. Habil Khorakhiwala , who had established Wockhardt Pharmaceuticals.
Dr Jawali’s dream of starting a quality private Heart hospital in Bangalore found a patron and soon, the 1st Wockhardt Hospital & Heart Institute was born.
The creation of these two institutions – Jayadeva & Wockhardt fueled a revolutionary change in the healthcare landscape of Bangalore, and triggered a new era of healthcare activities in Karnataka & the neighboring States of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
The success of Wockhardt Hospital & Heart Institute triggered the formation of the Wockhardt chain of 22 hospitals with 10,000 beds with a pan-India presence.
Wockhardt’s pinnacle of success was the partnership with Harvard Medical International – an achievement credited to Dr.Jawali’s leadership. Dr. Jawali was appointed the director of this company.
Today, Wockhardt Hospitals has been rechristened as Fortis Hospitals, after its merger with Fortis and Dr.Jawali continues to be the Director.
Being a restless innovator, his quest for breakthroughs has been persistent through the years.
In 1992, he pioneered beating heart bypass surgery in India when it was just an idea from the Latin American world.
Within two years he completed more than 500 surgeries and thus began his persistent efforts to popularize this form of cardiac surgery, fruits of which are visible today.
Beating heart bypass surgery was not pioneered in Bombay or Delhi as it is popularly believed.His friendship with Dr Benetti, Eric Jannsen, Antonio Calafiori & Subramanyam was helpful in building a solid program of OPCAB which trained many surgeons in India & abroad.
From 1994 onwards, began his trail of unmatched achievements. In September 1994, he performed India’s first MICAS (minimally invasive coronary bypass surgery) and then the first minimally invasive mitral valve replacement.
In 1999, he performed India’s first awake MICAS, followed by the first awake multi-vessel OPCAB through full sternotomy.
In 2002, he performed an awake multi vessel CABG with an aortic value replacement without intubation – general anesthesia or ventilator on a
74 year old man, the first of its kind in the world.
Added to these, he has performed other firsts and rare surgeries. Many of his accomplishments have become milestones in the Indian medical history.
With a record of more than 600 awake surgeries and 21 publications on this issue, he is considered to be a leader and has been teaching awake cardiac surgery in India & abroad. He also has 200 scientific papers to his credit.
He was the president of the Indian Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons in 2008.
He is a council member of the Asian association of cardiothoracic surgeons and has been the vice president of the Indian association of cardiology and secretary of the cardiology society of India, Banglore chapter and the Bangalore surgical society.
He is a founder-member of International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgeons, and the only Indian on the editorial board of Innovations in Cardio Thoracic Surgery, an international journal published from USA that deals with new ideas of minimally invasive cardiac surgery.
He is also on the editorial board of cts.net – a global website of the cardiothoracic surgeons of the world .He is also on the editorial board of the Indian journal of cardiothoracic surgery and the Indian journal of cardiac anesthesia.
Ms. Okumku expressed her appreciation for an open heart surgery she underwent on 25th of May 2015 performed by Dr. Vivek Jawali at Fortis Hospitals Bangalore.
