Accra, March 4, GNA - Heart surgery could be free of charge in the country if about a million Ghanaians donate 3,000 cedis every month towards it, a Consultant at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Cardio Centre, has said.

Dr Lawrence Agyeman Sereboe, the Consultant Surgeon, said on Friday that, "The Centre has envisaged that if only a million Ghanaians decide to donate the cost of one mineral bottle a month to the Centre it will be able to bear 100 per cent the cost of heart operations". He said this when he received a cash donation of 20 million cedis on behalf of the Centre from the Volta River Authority (VRA) International Schools in the country.

Dr Sereboe said at present due to the kind donations by individuals and corporate bodies to the Heart Foundation at the Centre, patients pay just half the cost of heart surgery.

He said, "the heart is what holds human and when it fails there are problems."

Mrs Grace Manison Annancy, Director of VRA Schools, who presented the cash together with some pupils said, "Being a Jubilee year for Ghana, the various institutions decided to assist the Centre by putting their financial mobilisation together". She noted that donation to the Centre had been an annual "ritual" for the VRA schools at Akosombo, Aboadze and Akuse. 04 Mar 07