Regional News of Saturday, 8 January 2005

Source: GNA

Fitness First Health Club donates to Cardio Centre

Accra, Jan 08, GNA - The Fitness First Health Club on Saturday presented a cheque for 20 million cedis in addition to some liquid detergents worth 10 million cedis to the Cardio Thoracic Centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

Mr Emmanuel Brown, a patron and spokesperson of the club, assured the centre of more support and said it would soon donate drugs to the centre.

Ms Rebecca Essilfie, Principal Nursing Officer In Charge of the centre, thanked the club for the donation and said the centre, through donations to the Ghana Heart Foundation (GHF), is now able to cater for some emergency surgical cases before patients made payments.

She said the GHF normally pays 50 per cent of the total cost for open-heart surgeries since most patients cannot afford to pay. Ms Essilfie thanked the public for their contributions to the GHF and appealed for further support to enable the centre to cater for the numerous heart cases that confront it.

At the Osu Children's Home, the club presented a check for 10 million cedis, some food items, detergents, non-alcoholic beverages, clothing and some drugs worth 50 million cedis to the home. Mr Brown said the money was to be used for the purchase of two deep freezers to replace the existing ones.

Mrs Helena Obeng-Asamoah, Supervisor of the home, thanked the club for the support and said the home needed more support to cater for the 130 children.

The club has a membership of 80 whose aim is to ensure good health and to support other people to stay healthy through donations.