Dr. Joseph Akpaloo, Chief Executive Officer of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), has hailed the strong partnership between the referral facility and the Cardiostat International and says this has led to significant improvement in the quality of care and treatment of heart-related diseases.
He said the benefits in terms of the training of local cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons had been tremendous and asked that this was sustained.
Dr. Akpaloo, interacting with members of the Cardiostat International team, who were on their fifth mission to the hospital to assist treat and efficiently manage patients suffering from severe heart conditions, said the facility was grateful for their sacrifices to humanity.
The team was made up renowned cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons from across different nations.
They have come together to undertake medical missions all over the world – offering free heart treatment and performing surgery on those with severe heart cases.
The team has additionally been providing training and building the capacity of their local counterparts and supplying drugs and vital equipment to health facilities.
Dr. Akpaloo said the KATH cardiothoracic centre was poised to deliver quality care to patients, regardless of their socio-economic status, but noted that, this would require support from its partners and individuals.
Dr. Philip Wendschuh, Cardiostat Mission Coordinator, said the 25-member team successfully performed open heart surgeries and provided Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD) devices on four patients to monitor and prevent their hearts from stopping suddenly.
He praised the local heart specialists at KATH for the hard work and expertise and said the team was happy to collaborate and work with such a dedicated team.
Dr. Isaac Kofi Owusu, Consultant Cardiologist at KATH, said this was the first time that ICD devices had been planted in patients in any hospital in the West African sub-region to help prolong their lifespan.
He reminded all to lead healthy lifestyles to prevent heart diseases.
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