12-year-old heart patient in crisis again

Master Frank Asubonteng, the 12-year-old heart patient, is in crisis and has been admitted at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

Frank is said to have got poor supervision from his parents as far as his medical needs were concerned. As a result, the artificial valve, which was implanted three years ago, is infected and blocked, sending him back to the hospital.

Dr Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Director of the Cardiothoracic Center of the Hospital, said the new infection has spread to a second valve, which is leaking badly. Master Asubonteng's health problem hit the headlines in 1996 when his father claimed he had been healed spiritually from his heart defects as diagnosed by the Cardio Center where he had been slated for an operation.

The father, Nana Asubonteng, an Accra trader, and sub-chief in the Dormaa Traditional area who announced his claim at a press conference, did not follow to check his son's condition. Frank therefore underwent an operation to replace three valves in his heart at a cost borne by the Cardio Fund and some benevolent organizations. Hospital sources said after the operation, Frank's mother traveled on many occasions and left him in the care of his teenage sister who could not supervise him to take his medication as directed. The situation got worse when Frank's mother moved from her Dansoman residence to Taifa without notifying the hospital authorities thus making follow-up and supervision very difficult.

"A particular drug called Warfarin, which is a blood thinner was not taken for some weeks. An antibiotic injection which he was supposed to get once every month was also no given because Frank was not being taken to the hospital, not even for his normal check-ups," Dr Frimpong-Boateng said. Visibly concerned about the situation, Dr Frimpong-Boateng said Frank's condition is not good.

He added, however, that he is not inclined to perform a second operation, which will be technically more difficult, more risky and more expensive than the first one. "This gives the child in a 50-50 chance." The doctor said he has written to Mr. Justice Emile Short, Chairman, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), who had to intervene on the boy's behalf before the first operation was performed. He said the letter has been copied to Mrs. Alberta Quartey, Chairman of the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) and he is waiting for their comments.