Feature: Chinese firm helps Ghanaian children with heart diseases

People attend a launch of the Children's Heart Foundation in Accra, Ghana, on Jan. 19, 2023. China's Sunda International Group on Thursday set up a foundation that intends to save at least 25 Ghanaian children with heart diseases every year. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng)

ACCRA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Childbirth is a revered development in the lives of African families, and for young couples who go into marriage, their joy is fulfilled when they put their first child to bed. Moreover, parents feel fulfilled and are thankful when these babies are healthy with no serious health issues.

Khadidja Adams, a young mother in Ghana, became worried and frustrated when her first child was diagnosed with an atrial septal defect, a kind of congenital heart defect popularly referred to as "hole-in-heart" disease after developing recurrent nasal blockage.

"I had my child at the Police Hospital, but after six months, he was always developing a cold. The medicines he was given did not make any impact. When the doctors realized the cold was persistent, they requested us to do an x-ray on him at a medical center, where the baby was diagnosed with a hole-in-heart disease," Adams told Xinhua.

Adams said things became difficult for her as she could not raise money for the surgery needed to correct the heart defect in the baby.

"But a philanthropist, Herbert Mensah, came to our aid and supported us for the first surgery. But that was not the end since we needed to raise money for the final surgery that would save the child from the heart condition. But we tried all means to raise this money without success," she said.

As Adams's hope of saving her child alive was almost lost, help appeared on the horizon with a Chinese investor who had heard about the plight of the mother and decided to come to her aid.

Shen Yanchang, chairman of China's Sunda International Group, decided to support the baby in having his heart defect corrected.

"My elder son had the same disease when he was a child, so the sufferings of those Ghanaian families have resonated with my wife and me," Shen told Xinhua.

Shen set up a foundation named after his two sons on Thursday in the Ghanian capital of Accra, which intends to save at least 25 Ghanaian kids with similar heart conditions every year.

According to Shen, as one of the leading private Chinese investors in Africa, Sunda has benefited immensely from Africa's fast-growing market, "it is also our responsibility to take care of underprivileged locals, which is of great significance to China-Ghana friendship."

"Sunda's gesture is a sign of greatness. Using his resources to make life better for others is a sign of greatness," said Opoku Ware Ampomah, chief executive officer of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana's leading tertiary health institution.

He remarked that due to the lack of social safety nets in Ghana for parents with such children, many families went through stressful moments, seeking support for the treatment of their children.

"With this gesture, more and more who would otherwise have lost their lives through this heart disease would be saved," Ampomah added. 

Representatives from China's Sunda International Group visit beneficiaries at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana, on Jan. 19, 2023. Sunda International Group on Thursday set up a foundation that intends to save at least 25 Ghanaian children with heart diseases every year. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng)