A 93-year-old doctor who has been operating on patients for nearly seven decades has been named the world’s oldest surgeon in the 2021 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

Dr Mambet Mamakeev, from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, had been operating for 67 years and 181 days when the record was fixed on 29 February this year.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic he finally received his certificate by express post last week, months after Guinness World Records representatives planned to present it in person.

Born in 1927, Dr Mamakeev is thought to have performed more than 30,000 surgeries and treated a ‘minimum’ of 100,000 patients.