Obuasi-based club pays surgery costs for four patients

Fifty 50 Club, an Obuasi-based Non-Governmental Organisation, has presented a cheque for GHC25,000 to support surgeries of four patients with various medical conditions.

The Club, made up of employees of AngloGold Ashanti and its subsidiaries, and workers of other corporate organisations, has a membership of 245 who have been contributing monthly to support charity.

Blessing Ama Woode Kwamba, a two-year-old girl from Obuasi, diagnosed with
Ventricular Septal Defect (hole in heart) at the National Cardiothoracic Centre, Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, was given GHC10,000 towards a procedure/surgery to correct the defect.

James Danquah, a 42-year-old man, diagnosed with an acquired heart disease (Severe Mitral Valve Regurgitation) at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, also received GHC10,000 for surgery.

Nine-year-old Federica Owusu Yeboah, who has undergone treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (cancer) but needs a CT scan of her neck and chest to ascertain whether she is completely cured, also received GHC500 for the scan.

A six-year-old sickle cell patient, Frederick Agyeman Duah, with increased susceptibility to infections, low blood levels, and bone and joint pains, was supported with GHC1,000.00.

Mr. Jacob Edmund-Acquah, the President and Founder of the Club, lauded members of the Club for their generous contributions towards its objectives.
He was optimistic that the donations would ease the plight of the patients and appealed to corporate institutions and individuals to support the activities of the club.

Dr Kwadwo Anim, the Executive Director of AngloGold Ashanti Health Foundation, lauded the Fifty 50 Club for the donation, which he described as a swift intervention to help the beneficiaries undergo treatment.

"The socio-economic background of the beneficiaries make it difficult for patients to undergo the right treatment early hence some of them live with the conditions for a longer time, thereby resulting in seeking advanced solutions to their plight," he said.

While there was advancement in technology for the treatment of heart conditions in particular, financing had always been a challenge, Dr Anim said, and called on individuals and organisations to emulate the example of the Club to donate towards the treatment of such diseases.

Madam Gladys Adu, a mother of a beneficiary, commended the Club for going to the aid of her daughter.

She said battling the disease had brought huge burden on the family’s finances and welcomed the intervention of the Club.
The Fifty 50 Club has since 2020 made many donations towards the cost of surgeries or medical treatments for children and other individuals with various heart/medical conditions.

It has also supported community clinics with medical equipment and supplies, providing scholarships to brilliant but needy students, and granting many people with financial setups for their businesses.