Kanu foundation plans ‘touch 60 hearts’ initiative

The Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) in Lagos has unfolded plans to operate on 60 patients suffering from heart-related ailments.

This is in line with Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary whose activities commenced in Abuja on Friday.

KHF plans also come as the federal government declared a year-long programme for the country’s diamond jubilee that will end on September 30, 2021.

Onyebuchi Abia, coordinator of the foundation, said the memorable occasion had presented the KHF an opportunity to reach out to the less-privileged in the society.

“We are focusing on 60 children and adults from all the states of Nigeria that require urgent open-heart surgeries to correct their heart defects,” Abia said.

The coordinator explained that the foundation’s plans were informed by the increasing need to focus on health-related issues, especially the heart as a critical organ in the development of a healthy body.

“Our foundation has successfully helped 588 children and adults of varying ages to get open-heart surgeries in hospitals across the world since inception in the year 2000,” he said.

“As an organisation in the forefront of this effort in Nigeria, we are determined to explore the 60th anniversary to ensure that more people get succour, especially as we aim to ensure that the surgeries take place in Nigeria to save the cost of taking the patients to foreign countries.”

The coordinator also appealed to individuals and corporate bodies to assist the KHF by selecting from the listed 60 heart patients.

“It is our belief that the individuals and corporate bodies will be remembered for their efforts in the annals of Nigeria’s history, in addition to the media mileage they will receive as well as being accorded the honour of identifying with a noble humanitarian cause,” Abia added.

Despite the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the KHF has pursued its efforts at helping heart patients get operated in India and Sudan this year and recorded appreciable success.