Plan Ghana mends hearts of hole in children

Accra, May 11, GNA - Plan Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), on Wednesday presented 16,000 Euros to the Ghana Heart Foundation, to help undertake surgery on children living with hole in heart conditions. Mr Samuel Paulos, Country Director of Plan Ghana, said the NGO had shown concern for the welfare of children and asked organizations to donate to rescue children with hole in heart. Speaking at a press conference by Plan Ghana and Cardiothoracic Centre in Accra, the Country Director asked the media to champion appeal for support for children with hole in heart. The programme, which was aimed at raising funds to support the cost of surgeries of children with hole in heart, was dubbed: 93Mending Hearts for Life: Improving Access to Cardiothoracic Surgeries." Mr Pualos applauded surgeons at the Cardiothoracic Centre for saving the lives of children, adding that without surgery the children would not be healthy and contribute to national development. He said: 93As human beings you cannot achieve anything without the support of another so do these children need the support of others to survive." The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Rojo Mettle Nunoo, noted that thousands of children were born annually with heart diseases globally but unfortunately most of them would not receive treatment and eventually succumb to the complications of their illness. He said most of them were unable to grow optimally and died before adequate funds could be raised for their treatment. Dr. Isabella Sego Moses, National Child Health Director, in a speech read on his behalf, said currently, there were about 150 cases of children under the age 11 months to 17 years at the Centre who needed financial assistance for treatment of heart diseases. He appealed to benevolent individuals and cooperate entities to sponsor as many children who needed to undergo heart surgery. "Our mutual efforts and support can amount to much together. We will fulfil our duty of cherishing every human life, especially the lives of children," Mr Mettle Nunoo said. The Deputy Minister bemoaned the cost of heart surgery and noted that it was still not affordable to most Ghanaians who needed the service despite the 50 per cent support for treatment provided by the Ghana Heart Foundation to all patients. He expressed the hope that as the economy improved mechanisms would be put in place to provide more sustainable funding for service provided at the Cardiothoracic Centre. Mr Nunoo appealed for assistance for the Ghana Heart Foundation to sustain and expand its support for patients. He said although many children had access to health through the National Health Insurance Scheme, treatment for heart conditions was not yet catered for because of inadequate funds for the scheme. Mr Nunoo lauded the collaboration between Plan Ghana and National Cardiothoracic Centre towards the treatment of such children. Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Director of the Cardiothoracic Centre, announced the overview of hole in heart in Ghana and the urgency it required. He said about 6,600 children were born with heart disease and without the Ghana Heart Foundation a lot of them would have perished. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng noted that the nation was not creating enough wealth to fund the heart surgery of affected children. He called on Ghanaians to support the Ghana Heart Foundation to help relieve hole in heart children.