Herbert Mensah brings Chinese charity to rescue hole in heart children at Korle Bu

Former Kotoko chairman, Herbert Mensah, has come to the rescue of multiple poor families and their children suffering from hole in heart disease and seeking expensive and unaffordable treatment at the Cardiothoracic Centre, Korle Bu Teaching hospital Accra.

This was made possible through his collaboration with his foreign associates and Chinese investors in Ghana, SUNDA & KEDA International Group of Companies and their related charity Foundation, the Shen Yang and Shen Yuet Children’s Heart Foundation.

The Chinese charity, at the behest of Herbert Mensah, has agreed and announced its decision to pay for the high cost of treating some children in Ghana with a hole in heart disease for the next 10 years.

An average of 25 surgeries costing between 6,000 to 13,000 USD per patient for twenty-five children will be paid for by the foundation annually for the next ten years. A total of 250 children, whose families may have never been able to afford the high cost of treatment, will benefit for the next 10 years.

This was disclosed during a signing ceremony between the Chinese charity foundation and the Cardiothoracic Centre of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Accompanying the investors was Herbert Mensah, President of the May 9 charity Foundation in Ghana.

The Chinese charity foundation is named after 17-year-old Shen Yang, himself a hole-in-heart survivor and son of Chinese investor Shen Yan Chang, the founder and chairman of the SUNDA & KEDA International Group of Companies.

According to Herbert Mensah, his aim and that of his Chinese business associates in Ghana is to bring relief to the poor and needy, through multiple streams of donations, to the multitudes of children and their poor families who hitherto could not afford the high-cost of treating the hole in heart disease at the national cardiothoracic centre situated at the Korle Bu teaching hospital.

Dr. Kow Entsua-Mensah, a consultant at the national cardiothoracic centre said one child out of 100 births in Ghana has a heart or chest condition with smoking, excessive drinking, prolonged exposure to X-rays and poor eating habits by pregnant women named as some of the causes of heart and chest conditions in children. The taking of drugs without prescription and the failure of some expectant mothers to attend antenatal care are the other causes.

Chief executive officer of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah welcomed the generous initiative of Shen Yang and Shen Yuet Children’s Heart Foundation and their associated SUNDA & KEDA International Group of Companies in Ghana, saying, it came at an important period to the centre and to poor families because it had become even more difficult during the recent depreciation of the Ghana cedi because the cost of equipment for treating the disease is often quoted in USD.



The SUNDA & KEDA international group of companies have been operating in Ghana for the last 20 years and directly employ over 7 thousand Ghanaians. They’re leading manufacturers and distributors of household consumable products such as ceramics, hardware accessories, daily cleaning and personal care products, diapers and many others.

This latest charity initiative adds to a long list of corporate & socially responsible actions in their areas of operations. They have in the past supported families of victims of the Accra sports stadium disaster, gas explosion and flood victims, disabled groups and many others in Ghana.

Shen Yaw Chang, the founder and chairman of the SUNDA & KEDA International Group of Companies was present at the signing ceremony to pledge his and his business group’s support for the 10-year-long charity initiative.