KATH COLLABORATES WITH BOSTON CHILDREN HOSPITAL (PAGE 29)

THE Ghana Paediatric Heart Foundation at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in collaboration with the Boston Children Hospital in the United States of America (USA), has established a foundation to mobilise financial and material support from the public to aid in the provision of free cardiothoracic surgery for children suffering from congenital heart defects in the country.
The foundation, which has the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II as the Chief Patron, is also meant to sensitise the public to appreciate the problems that children who suffer cardiothoracic problems go through and to also enable the public to collaborate effectively with the health authorities in diverse ways to make the 100 per cent cost free surgery operation for such children at the KATH become a reality.
To collaborate the initiative the Mt. Olives Presbyterian Church at Patasi in Kumasi has donated a cheque for GH¢1,000 to the foundation. The District Minister of the Church, Rev. Joseph William Acheampong, donated the cheque on behalf of the church when he led a section of the congregation to interact with the hospital authorities.
In his address, Rev Acheampong commended the KATH authorities and their USA counterparts for their initiative to support victims with cardiothoracic diseases.
"We are deeply touched by the work of the Heart Foundation for the good of humanity, and therefore decided to donate to the foundation", he noted
The Chief Executive of the KATH, Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, who received the cheque on behalf of the Ghana Heart Foundation commended members of the Mt. Olives Presbyterian Church for their gesture.
He pointed out that operations related to cardio diseases were very expensive , and therefore called on the public to support the initiative of the KATH-Boston Children Heart Foundation to enable them to mobilise adequate resources for their future endeavours.
" We will continue to count on the contributions of benevolent Ghanaians to sustain the programme to enable us continue to address the health needs of children suffering from heart diseases", he noted.
According to Dr Nsiah Asare, the KATH- Boston Children collaboration had been able to organise free open heart surgery for about 20 children for the past two years, stressing that " the children would have been dead by now if they had not received the free open heart surgery".
He hinted that a team from the Boston Children Hospital would arrive in October this year and therefore gave the assurance that with their collaboration, " and with the support of the public, more cases involving children suffering from heart problems would be attended to “.