Gerald Asamoah On Project To Provide Healthcare For Children With Heart Defects

Ghanaian-born former German international, Gerald Asamoah, has embarked on a project to provide adequate healthcare for children with congenital heart diseases.

The Gerald Asamoah Foundation for Children with Heart Diseases in partnership with Kinderherzen, a German non-profit organisation, visited the National Cardiothoracic Centre in Ghana to engage stakeholders on how they could significantly improve treatment for children with congenital heart disease.

Dr. Lawrence Agyeman Serebour, the Director of the National Cardiothoracic Centre, said such collaborations in the medical field were very significant in improving the treatment options when it comes to heart diseases.

“Such collaborations are vital with regard to further training of our personnel, exchange of ideas, assisting patients in undertaking surgeries, and capacity building.

“So it is to our advantage to have such collaborations with these medical personnels who are from some top hospitals in Germany, and we look to collaborate with them to make their project here a success,” he told Ghana News Agency.

Gerald Asamoah, who is currently the Team Manager of Schalke 04, was delighted to begin the project, as he looks to give back to his motherland.

“The reason why I embarked on this project was that I also have a heart defect, so I decided to set up this foundation in 2007.

“My ultimate goal was to come back to Ghana and give back to my motherland. So I came down to Ghana with some top pediatricians to see how we could help children who can’t afford various surgeries and build the capacity of the medical staff here in Ghana,” he said.

Anja Schlarb, Head of mobile kinderherzen-clinic, said the Clinic decided to partner Asamoah’s Foundation to help provide adequate healthcare to children with congenital heart disease.

“We are doctors who travel around the world to provide specialised healthcare for children abroad. We have been to Eritrea, El Salvador, and Romania, and we decided to come to Ghana and support Asamoah’s home country because he has always wanted to give back to Ghana.

“We are here on an exploration tour to find out the challenges that confront children in getting the needed healthcare, and we will come up with the best ways to help the vulnerable children in terms of successfully undertaking surgeries,” she said.