Cameroon: Fako Heart Celebrates 1st Anniversary with “Zero Mortality”

The Centre that went operational on June 1, 2019, is to start an Erectile Dysfunction clinic and Weight-loss Clinic

By Boris Esono Nwenfor

Fako Heart, a centre of excellence for stroke prevention, has marked its first anniversary with "zero mortality" recorded at the centre. During the celebration, June 2, 2020, patients consulted at the Centre for free. This free consultation is expected to run until June 30, 2020.

The Fako Heart Centre located in Buea, the chief town of the South West Region of Cameroon is as purpose-built Cardiac Hospital and it specializes in Heart and Lung diseases.

Since its launch in June of 2019, Fako Heart Centre has had 1,366 clinic-based consultations (808 females, 558 males) and 804 outreach consultations (391 females, and 413 male). A total of 2,170 persons were consulted with 319 patients admitted by Fako Heart Centre during the past 12 months with no deaths recorded (zero mortality). The predominant conditions are high blood pressure (Hypertension) Diabetes, and Heart Failure.

The majority of persons who consulted came from the South West (1,010) and the North West Regions (270). Some of the patients came in from distant places including the South Region (Ebolowa), Extreme North (Mayo Tsanaga), Adamawa (Ngaoundere), Nigeria (Imo State) and the Central African Republic (Bangui).

"Heart failure is a long term disease. One thing we have to know with a cardiac patient is that when it set in we can only slow it down; you cannot reset the person like where the heart was before. The heart failure comes with age and there are very few children who are born with effect. The other heart illness is something we acquire as we age and our lifestyle too," Mrs Irene Naloua Kemah, Owner/CEO of Fako Heart Centre told reporters.

 "Once it (heart issues) reaches 10% the only thing that can save you is a heart transplant which is practically impossible here with so many people even in Europe travelling, some are on the waiting list for even 10 years. And when you are on the waiting list they look at the age and how you can contribute to the society for them to give you a heart."

"We are hoping to get to that stage where people will take their health seriously. We do not want people to neglect their health. Everyone thinks that they always have Malaria and Typhoid which is not always the case… Consultation at Fako Heart involves a mandatory Kidney function test," She added.

The CEO has called on everyone to look after their body as if it is not properly taken care of, it might degenerate to something else. She said: "When you have a fever or anything you have to go to the hospital and do not assume that it might be malaria or just going to the pharmacy to get some medications. I had one of my staff who was complaining that madam my son is always sick and I ask have you had any blood works on him. No, he came here and the child was Aememic. When you are anaemic you are weak and cannot do certain things. We gave the son some medication, and two weeks ago the staff said the child is like a newborn baby."

The Only Centre with a Tilt Table Test

Fako Heart Centre is the only Centre in Cameroon that offers a tilt table test. "This is a test designed to establish the diagnosis in patients presenting with collapse after blood works, ECG and echocardiogram are unremarkable," Dr Perry Kemah, UK-based Consultant Cardiologist said in an earlier interview.

"The tilt table test helps to establish vasovagal causes of collapse… Fako Heart is the only Cardiac Centre right now in the region delivering acute cardiac care. That is at the point of entry we assess you and prior to discharge, you undergo a cardiac rehabilitation programme that gives the patient fitness to go back to community life."

"…As we celebrate our first anniversary, we are offering heart screening with a view of identifying healthy people in the community with potential risk factors of cardiovascular diseases," Dr Perry Kemah added. 

He went further that: "Fako Heart has a track record so far with zero mortality in 12 months. This is based on good medical practice and that involves working within our capacity and communicating clearly with our patients about the critical situations patients find themselves in…"

Background

Fako Heart Centre Buea is a purpose-built specialist Cardiac Hospital and a Centre of Excellence for Stroke Prevention. It specializes in Lung and Heart diseases. Its key mission is to reduce the burden of Heart Disease and Stroke on a national scale. The alarming number of patients with cardiovascular conditions consulted so far attests to the fact that cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a severe problem across Cameroon.

The vision bearers of Fako Heart are Mrs Irene Naloua Kemah, Owner/CEO, and Dr Fred Perry Kemah, UK-based consultant cardiologist. 

The Centre offers the following services: Electrocardiogram (ECG), Holter 24hr ECG Monitor, Exercise Tolerance Test, Stress Test, Tilt Table Test, Echo Stress Test, Six Minute Walking Test, and much more.