Twenty-eight children suffering from congenital heart diseases have undergone life-saving paediatric cardiac procedures at the National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), thanks to a four-day humanitarian mission led by a four-member paediatric cardiac team from Qatar Charity in collaboration with NCTC’s paediatric cardiac specialists.
According to a Facebook post by the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital on September 1, 2026, the mission marked the team’s fifth visit to Ghana, but their first ever hosted directly at Korle Bu.
The interventions were carried out using advanced, minimally invasive cardiac catheterisation techniques at the Centre’s newly commissioned bi-plane cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
The visiting team was led by Paediatric Interventional Cardiologist Dr Iyad Al-Ammouri, Senior Paediatric Cardiac Anaesthesiologist Dr Hasan Ismail Mahmoud Amar, Catheterisation Lab Technologist Mohammad Faisal Hijazi Abu Rabie, Cathlab Technology Assistant Maysarah (MN) Nafi’ Mosleh, and Senior Cathlab Technician Kulindwa W. Kasubi from Tanzania.
Director of the NCTC, Dr Kow Entsua-Mensah, explained that the mission was not only about treating patients but also about strengthening local expertise.
“One of the main aims of doing this is capacity-building and enhancing our practice. It is very important for us to grow our practice, and having the team here has been helpful in opening new frontiers for us,” he said.
The NCTC clinical team, led by Paediatric Cardiologists Prof Nana-Akyaa Yao and Dr Della Adzosii, together with Specialist Cathlab Anaesthesiologist Dr Sika Edinam Lumor, worked alongside the visiting doctors to treat patients ranging from five-month-old infants to a 23-year-old medical student.
The interventions focused on repairing abnormal cardiac connections and defects such as hole-in-heart conditions, as well as performing balloon dilations for narrowed valves and blood vessels. These conditions, if untreated, often manifest as severe breathing difficulties, recurrent chest infections, poor feeding, failure to thrive, or heart failure.
Dr Al-Ammouri praised the collaboration and expressed optimism about future missions.
“We are hoping that we will continue to come every year and help the children of Ghana with these specially selected cases, and also support the team at Korle Bu with the cases they perform in between mission visits.”
Prof Yao described the procedures as a historic milestone, noting that performing specialised catheterisations at the newly upgraded lab represents a major step forward for healthcare in Ghana. She commended Qatar Charity for providing all treatments at no cost to the families.
Looking ahead, both institutions aim to expand the annual partnership to increase access to vital cardiovascular care while enabling Ghanaian clinicians to manage complex paediatric procedures between visits independently.
