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 President Mahama presenting a dummy cheque for Gh¢300,000 to Dr Frank Serebour, Head of the Cardiothoracic Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. With them are Mrs Lordina Mahama (4th from right), First Lady, Mr Ibrahim Mahama (2nd right), President's brother, and some family members of the President. Picture:  EBOW HANSON
President Mahama presenting a dummy cheque for Gh¢300,000 to Dr Frank Serebour, Head of the Cardiothoracic Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. With them are Mrs Lordina Mahama (4th from right), First Lady, Mr Ibrahim Mahama (2nd right), President's brother, and some family members of the President. Picture: EBOW HANSON

Mahama hands over GH¢300,000 mum's funeral donations to Cardio Centre

The family of President John Dramani Mahama has donated proceeds from the funeral of  the President's mother, Hajia Abiba Nnaba, totalling GH¢300,000 to the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCC) to support Ghanaians, particularly children, who need to undergo surgery at the centre but cannot afford the cost involved.

The gesture was in fulfilment of a promise the family made during Hajia Nnaba’s burial at her home town, Busunu, in the West Gonja District in the Northern Region, in July 2016.

Some members of the Mahama family assembled at the President's official residence in Accra yesterday to present the cheque covering the amount to a team from the NCC, led by its Director, Dr Lawrence Serebour, who gave frightening statistics of cases of hole-in-heart among Ghanaian children.  

President Mahama, who presented the cheque, expressed his sincerest thanks to the thousands who mourned with the family during the period of grief. 

Lifeline 

He spoke about the important role the NCC was playing in health delivery, adding: "The centre has been the lifeline to many of our citizens suffering heart ailments and the work that has been done by the centre has given new leases of life to many people who, otherwise, would probably have passed away", he said.

The President mentioned particularly young children who were usually shown on television and in the other media appealing for financial assistance to undergo surgery at the centre and expressed the hope that the donation would go to help save the lives of such needy people.

Mahama family commended 

Dr Serebour, who was touched by the donation, said: "I am a bit lost for words about this generosity; that in your moment of grief you still thought of the National Cardiothoracic Centre and the patients that we have.

"For you and your family to come together and think of the numerous patients who are suffering, whose quality of life, whose life expectancy is limited because of correctable heart problems, we say thank you”, Dr Serebour, a cardiothoracic surgeon, told the President.

He stated that heart diseases among children “were a big problem”.

"I can tell you that one in every 100 children born will suffer from a hole-in-heart condition. If you look at the population of Ghana, we have at least 7,000 children who are born with hole-in-heart conditions and half of them will not see their first birthday without any intervention," he said. 

From the figures, Dr Serebour said, one could imagine the damage heart ailments had done to young people in the past.

He expressed the hope that more cardiothoracic centres would be established in the country, mentioning the northern part of the country as one area where a centre was urgently needed, since the only one in Accra was unable to meet the pressure coming from all over the country.

"I know that His Excellency is quite committed to giving us a new centre and I thank you for that", he said.

He assured the President and his family that the money would be used for the purpose for which it was donated. 

In attendance were the First Lady, Mrs Lordina Mahama, and Mr Ibrahim Mahama, the President’s younger brother.

 

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