*110
diagnosed with cardiac diseases on Day one
 |
| Partial view of Fako Heart Center,Buea-Cameroon, which became operational on June 1,2019.The proprietor of the specialist cardiac facility is Cameroonian-born Dr.Fred Perry Kemah, consultant cardiologist, based in UK |
By Christopher Ambe
A privately-owned, close
to one billion Fcfa worth cardiac centre, christened Fako Heart Centre or Perry’s Specialist Cardiac Centre, situated
beside Buea Mountain Hotel, is now fully operational, following its official
launch on Saturday, June 1, 2019.
Of one hundred and
Ninety-four(194) persons who were screened for cardiovascular diseases during the
centre’s inaugural, “One hundred and ten(110) were diagnosed with
cardiovascular conditions, giving a percentage of 56.7”, according to Mbua
Emmanuel Mbua, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Fako Heart Centre
Mr. Mbua described the
day-one consultation results as “quite alarming.” According to the World Health Organization, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death in the world.
A multitude of people including patients- mostly
elderly people, last Saturday, converged on the health facility not only to catch
a glimpse of the ultra-modern heart center, but also to get free consultations,
allowing them to save tens of thousands of Fcfa required for such services.
Dr. Fred Perry kemah said he was pleased with
the massive turnout at the launch.
The cardiologist and his specialist
nurses worked all day consulting the multitude of people who had come from within
the national territory to know their heart condition.
The heart center diagnoses
and treats diseases such as: resistant hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia,
chest pain, heart attack, Palpitations,heart failure,pneumonia,HiV/heart
diseases, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, deep venous thrombosis,
pulmonary embolism and pericarditis.
Mrs.Kemah Irene is the CEO of Fako Heart Centre, which provides services viz:Electrocardiogram
(ECG), Echocardiogram/Echo Doppler Studies,Echotress test, DC
Cardioversion,Stress test, Tilt table test,Holter 24hr BP Blood Pressure
Monitor,Holter 24hr ECG monitor and Transesophageal echocardiogram. According to a handout
distributed during the crowd-pulling launch,“Fako Heart Centre [delivers] very
high standards of care to people suffering with cardiovascular diseases, which
care is first-class [but has been made] affordable to the entire Cameroonian
community and neighboring countries”
According to same
document, “Fako Heart Centre will also serve as University College of Cardiology
and will liaise with the University of Manchester as part of an exchange
programme for undergraduates”
Dr. Kemah told reporters:
“Our mission is basically to educate the public about the major risk factors of
cardiovascular diseases, enable them have direct access to first-class care and
finally offer them necessary treatment, with the view to prolonging lives from
a cardiovascular perspective”
Dr.Kemah, who qualified as
a cardiologist since 2002 and in 2005 gained the status of Consultant Cardiologist,
said the huge turnout for consultation on the center’s inaugural, was
indicative of inadequate specialist centers in Cameroon.
The cardiologist said while in London he was
bombarded with calls from Cameroonians complaining of cardiovascular diseases,
(whose endpoint, of course, is heart failure), prompting him to establish Fako Heart Centre.
He added that the facility was put up for humanitarian reasons, since treating cardiovascular
diseases abroad is quite expensive.
“The same services I provide
in London, France or elsewhere abroad are the same here.The only difference is
that to see me in London you pay about
250 pounds; in France ,to see me you pay about 200 Euros ,but here in Buea
people don’t pay to see me..Consultation is absolutely free,” he revealed.
Dr Kemah, who is also a
senior university lecturer in cardiac medicine, revealed that, he was appointed
to teach at the University of Buea but the Anglophone crisis disrupted his
plans.
“This Centre would serve
as a platform for medical students with special interest in cardiology, and for
general medical students to have basic knowledge in cardiology”, he said.
The cardiologist appealed to the general public to be very health- conscious.
The cardiologist appealed to the general public to be very health- conscious.
“That means if you have
your very first chest pain,rush to Fako
Heart Center for us to examine you and establish whether it is cardiac or not;
whenever you feel palpitations ,rush to the hospital; those are the pre-warning
signs of cardiac issues; you also have breathlessness, swollen legs etc.”, he
pointed outA day before the clinical launching of the Centre, the Bishop of Buea,Mgr Bushu Immanuel(pictured) was at the health facility and blessed it. The inaugural proper was graced by cultural dances.
Dr. Kemah was born in
Buea- Cameroon. He did his primary
school education in Catholic School Buea,.Then he attended Bilingual Grammar School, Molyko and Saint
Joseph’s College (SJC), Sasse, obtaining the GCE O & A levels. He proceeded
to Italy where he read medicine in Rome
Catholic University, obtaining MD & PhD.
He’s on the
Specialist Register of the General Medical Council, London, UK as a Consultant
Cardiologist with Full License to Practice. He has been a consultant-cardiologist
since 2005. He has extensive international experience and reputation as he is
currently operating in the UK and France. He is fluent in English, French,
Lingala & Italian.
Dr.Kemah developed an
Advanced Echo cardiology service in South London Hospitals at the Royal Bolton
Hospital, and was awarded the title of Honorary Senior Lecturer in Cardiac
Medicine by the University of Manchester in 2011 in recognition of his teaching
activities at the Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
He is a Fellow of Royal
College of Physicians (FRCP), UK and of European Society of Cardiology (FESC).
Dr. Kemah is trained in
both invasive and non-invasive diagnostic techniques.
He also runs specialist
clinics including Heart Disease in Pregnancy Clinic, Atrial Fibrillation and
Stroke Prevention Clinic, Heart Failure Clinic, Screening and Preventive
Cardiology Clinic.
(This article will also appear in The Horizon Newspaper, Cameroon, of Tuesday,June 4,2019)
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