By Mugisa Isaac Mathias

A total of 11 disadvantaged Ugandan heart patients will undergo surgery under the sponsorship of Hwan- Sung Medical Charity Service by the end of this year.

Under its charitable heart surgery program me The programme, Hwan Sung Medical Charity service social responsibility and

The surgeries will be performed during November and December 2010 at the Uganda heart institute at Mulaago hospital by a Ugandan team led by Dr. Mwamu Tom Phillip a cardiac surgeon and Ms. Oketayot Anna Noland, a nursing officer at the Uganda Heart Institute.

Hwan Sung, the Chairman

The Medical Charity has injected 60 million Uganda shillings for these operations for the 11 poorest patients who have been selected among the registered applicants to the Hwan Sung charitable medical programme. According to a statement from Hwan-Sung, The money will also cater for the patients’ medical treatment surgery and their welfare.

Since 2007 the charity has sponsored a total number of 72 heart patients for surgery and this year 18 children and adult have been sponsored here and in Korea to undergo heart surgeries.

The Chairman of the Charity, Sung Hwan Kem, says they hope to sponsor  about 82 heart patients by the end of this year.

The 11 lucky patients are 24 year old Asimwe Ruth, 26 year old Ayuro Lillian, 8 year old Biyinzika Joshua, 42 year old Abesiga Nathan, 18 year old Edonu Raphael and 2 year old Tumusime mariam, 2 year old Namiro Joyee., 6 year old Namazzi Tedy , 1 year old  Katooke Beatrice, 6 year old Mercy Nanunja, and 6 year old  Kabanda Abdul .

Dr Mwamu says that the five will undergo open heart surgery and six will undergo closed surgery.

Dr. Mwamu also says that they hope to operate 10 heart patients at the international hospital in Kampala in December and that they will invite other heart doctors from the United Kingdom to help with the operations.

Dr. Mwamu says that he is also happy that the capacity to diagnose the heart disease in Uganda is improving due to increased awareness from the public which has made many patients to come up early for checkups.

He says that the most type of heart disease is the norm tic heart disease which damages the valves of the heart and it is being caused by the poor housing and ventilations especially in rural areas.

Dr Mwamu told journalists in Kampala that treatment of this disease is also hard because it involves patients receiving artificial valves which have no guarantee of lasting for ever because they can easily be re blocked needing more surgery which is more expensive.

He also says that they hope to improve in the number of patients that are being operated home since the government is extending and building another extension of the Heart Institute which will give them more room and power to operate more heart patients from within Uganda.

Currently 180 patients are operated at the Mulago Heart Institute every year but Dr. Mwamu is hopeful that with more improvement coming they will be able to operate 250 patients every year.

Dr. Mwamu says that the major cause of heart disease in Kampala is due to poor eating habits and bad lifestyles that include smoking eating junky fatty foods less exercise and over consuming of alcohol.