The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in collaboration with specialists from Boston Children Hospital in the United States of America has performed a free heart surgery for underprivileged children at the accident and emergency centres of the facility.
A total number of 44 Ghanaians and others from the West Africa sub regions underwent the surgery.
The annual programme started three years ago. The programme was designed to help alleviate the plight of children suffering from cardio vascular diseases whose parents could not find for the cost of surgery in the country.
The team included heart specialists, physicians, nurses, pharmacists and volunteers among others who paid their own money to come into the country. The beneficiaries who reside in various parts of the country were among many others who were screened by the medical team when they arrived in the country. Dr. Fynn Thompson, briefing the media disclosed that each patient would have spent about $8000 for the surgical operation.
He said the team spent about $70.000 on each mission and in terms of medical equipments and suppliers spent a total of $1million. �Our main goal is not only to perform free heart surgery for children suffering various heart problem but also to build the capacity of medical officers at KATH to enable them acquire skills to treat such patients in future�, he said.
He submitted that members of their team had collaborated effectively with their counterparts at KATH and pointed out that �we have identified specific people who are being trained for the past three years in specific skills. We will continue to train them and with the support from the chief executive, physicians and nurses who are actively supporting us.
The Chief Executive Officer of KATH, Professor Ohene Adjei commended Dr. Fynn Thompson and his team for their humanitarian gesture. He said, �your presence is always seen as a blessing because we cannot imagine what would have happened to the children who had benefited from your gesture so far�. He assured KATH was putting measures in place to establish the cardio centre to complement that of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra to treat both children and adults suffering from various heart problems.
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