Accra, June 28, GNA - The National Cardiothoracic Centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital with support from ITCONSORTIUM on Thursday launched the “Support Cardio Project” in Accra to help tackle financial difficulties facing the Centre.
The platform will enable people willing to donate to the centre to do so by dialing a short code *700*9# on MTN, select “Donate” enter Cardio, followed by the amount, select frequency and duration, then authorize payment.
Other partners include MTN and the Consolidated Bank of Ghana.
Dr Lawrence Sereboe, the Director for Cardiothoracic Centre, said there was hardly any insurance system that currently supported the Centre.
Dr Sereboe noted that The National Health Insurance system did not apply when it came to heart surgery.
“We know that one out of every 100 children born would have a hole in heart condition. Without surgical intervention, half of these children would not see their fifth birthday. Even if they do, the quality of life is poor and their life expectancy is reduced.
It is not only the child that has problems when there is a hole in heart condition in the family- the entire family also does. Some women are even afraid to have children just because the preceding ones had such a problem and it takes all their time at the hospital,” he added.
He explained that with successful surgical treatment, the heart conditions were ameliorated and the children had better quality of life with a normal life expectancy.
“A heart surgery costs probably $6,000 and even though, I always say that the cost of heart surgery in Ghana is perhaps the cheapest in the world, how many families can afford it? These are the kind of people we want to target.
The Director said that the Ghana Heart Foundation was founded with the aim to support every Ghanaian that needed heart surgery without having to pay a dime.
“There are still a few people who come to our aid. We have the Children’s Heart Foundation and I am sure most of you have heard of our collaboration with Kasapreko Company Limited including the Awake Purified Drinking Water,” he said.
Dr Sereboe said though these companies were helping, individual contributions were also important hence the launch.
Mr Joojo Esua-Mensah, Chief Business Development Officer of ITCONSORTIUM, said he decided to support the Cardio Centre when he lost his loved ones including a big brother at the hospital.
He was later diagnosed with a heart condition but had financial support from partners and the company he worked for, he then found out from other patients how difficult it was to pay for their treatments.
“I engaged Dr Sereboe on the quiet and he confirmed the struggles patients had to go through to settle their bills. I asked myself what I could do within the small space I found myself to help. I spoke to my partners, and as a Fintech Company, if we could build a donation platform as the company’s cooperate social responsibility (CSR) to help raise funds to support kids with cardiac related issues,” he added.
Mr Esua-Mesah said not only did IT Consortium, develop innovative solutions, but they were committed to making lives better.
He said aside developing the platform and bearing the cost of managing it, they would donate GH¢ 10,000.00 as seed money to support the project.
He called on Ghanaians to support the Centre with at least GH¢ 5.00, saying, without their contributions, the platform would yield no benefits remain just a platform with no benefits.
“If you want to make a difference; this is a cause that affirms an important value – compassion for those in need. I would therefore, encourage us all to make a contribution, no matter how little because the amount you donate today, could go a long way to save a life. Who knows – maybe save the life of someone you know and care about,” he appealed.
He lauded MTN Ghana and Consolidated Bank Ghana for coming on board to support the project.
To make a donation, dial*700*9# on MTN, select “Donate” enter Cardio, followed by the amount, select frequency and duration, then authorize payment.
GNA
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