Suva: A team of specialists brought from India to Fiji successfully performed 16 open-heart surgeries in the Colonial War Memorial Hospital on Monday in Fiji's capital city of Suva.

The surgeries were performed by a team of specialists brought from India by the Fiji-based Sahyadri Specialty Pacific Hospital Limited, agencies reported on Monday.

Project coordinator Durdamya Munibhargav said that 24 patients were initially booked for the life-saving surgeries but eight did not turn up.

"Of the 16 operated on, two were Nauruans and the rest were Fijians of Indian descent," he said.

Indo-Fijians are Fijian citizens who are fully or partially of North Indian descent, which includes descendants who trace their heritage from various parts of the Indian subcontinent.

It is noted that Fiji Indians face major obstacles when it comes to health and are often reported in research articles as a group having higher than normal prevalence rate of Type 2 diabetes.

Munibhargav expressed gratitude on the success of the surgeries and thanked another Indian Nikhil Ghodke for bringing much-needed injections from India to Fiji to keep the surgeries going.(IANS)