Kumasi, Dec. 7, GNA - A team of surgeons and urologists from International Voluntary Urology (IVU) of the Havard University Medical School in Boston, USA in collaboration with the Department of Surgery of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has embarked on a special exercise to perform surgery to correct congenital malformation on children, especially hermaphrodites. So far, about 16 hermaphrodites between the ages of four and 12 have been operated upon to correct the abnormalities, since the exercise began on Monday.

Speaking to the media in Kumasi on Wednesday after a successful one-and-half hours operation on one of such children, Dr Ken Aboah, Consultant Urologist at KATH, said about three years ago the hospital entered negotiation with the IVU on possible collaboration to perform surgery on children with congenital malformation at the hospital. He said 20 hermaphrodites were successfully operated upon last year and hoped about 25 surgeries could be performed before the team left on Friday.

Dr Aboah said the surgery, which should have cost about five million cedis per person was being done at the cost of 300,000 cedis as a result of the sponsorship by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the IVU, which brought equipment and other medical items worth 40,000 dollars towards the exercise.

He said the team took into consideration the genetic position and outside features of the patient before a surgery was performed to close one of the organs of the affected person.

Dr Bob Nguyen, leader of the team, said the mission of the volunteers was not only to perform surgeries but also to educate and share ideas on the latest techniques in surgery with resident consultants of the hospital to enable them teach their colleagues. He said the five-year collaboration with the hospital would help bring relief to most children, who had those malformation and their parents.