Published on March 18)
Story: George Ernest Asare, Kumasi
The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has given the assurance that Asanteman will support the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital’s(KATH) Heart Foundation launched last year to enable the teaching hospital to establish a cardiothoracic centre to address cardio related problems in the northern sector of the country efficiently and effectively.
He said with cardio diseases increasing in their numbers and the cost of treatment soaring, establishing a cardiothoracic centre at the KATH would complement what was available at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and to reduce the cost of travelling to access medical care there.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu gave the assurance when the Chief Executive Officer of the KATH, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, and his management team , together with a team of cardio surgeons from the Boston’s Children’s Hospital in the United States of America (USA), led by Dr Fynn Thompson paid a courtesy call on him at the Manhyia Palace at the weekend.
Dr Nsiah Asare took the opportunity to brief Otumfuo Osei Tutu about the effective collaboration between the KATH and the US surgeons over the last couple of years which had made it possible for them to perform free open heart surgeries on 19 children suffering from cardio vascular diseases at the KATH .
He explained that eight children benefited from the initiative in October last year when the KATH made history by performing the first ever open heart surgery during the visit by the surgeons from the Boston Children’s Hospital.
He said when the team arrived in Kumasi last week, they screened as many as 100 patients who were suffering from cardio related diseases but they managed to perform free open heart surgeries on 11 of them.
He said the cost of performing an open heart surgery for each patient was between $ 50,000 and $55, 000.
In addition to the free open heart surgeries, the team also donated the equipment used for the operation to the hospital .
According to Dr Nsiah Asare, the long term plans between the KATH and the US surgical team was to establish a cardiothoracic centre in Kumasi to address emerging cardio diseases.
That, he said, would be in line with the hospital’s vision of becoming a medical tourist centre of international repute, and thereby generating wealth , especially from patients from the West African sub-region as its contribution to the accelerated and sustainable socio-economic development of the country.
He said it was to realise the hospital’s vision within the next two years that management launched the cardio fund to solicit financial support from institutions, organisations, the business community and individuals, and therefore, appealed to the Asantehene to support their initiative to enhance quality health care delivery at the KATH.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu commended the management of the KATH for initiating the project in Kumasi, and called on the business community, institutions, organisations and individuals in the country to actively support the initiatives of the KATH management.
He said traditional authorities in Asanteman would also provide the requisite support in cash and kind for the establishment of the centre within its time frame to enhance quality health care delivery.
He also commended Dr Fynn Thompson and his team for performing the free open heart surgeries for the beneficiaries by giving them the chance to live as normal human beings.
Otumfuo Osei Tutu said without that opportunity, their parents would not have been able to raise money to treat them.
He said building the capacity of medical officers at the KATH to enable them to take full control of the centre when it was established was also important and, therefore, urged Dr Nsiah Asare to address that concern to enable surgeons at the KATH to acquire the requisite skills for the task ahea
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