Yacoub’s new heart center to receive 80,000 patients annually

CAIRO – 8 May 2018: Egyptian-British cardiothoracic surgeon Magdi Yacoub announced Monday that the establishment of a new international heart and scientific research center in New Aswan will start this year, with a cost of $350 million.

In a press conference on Monday, Yacoub said that the new center’s external clinics will receive about 80,000 patients annually, adding that 1,200 highly trained medical staff members and researchers will operate the center.

"The center will incorporate a total of 420 patient beds, including 120 beds for intensive care patients," Yacoub added.

The new center aims to “serve the suffering humanity in Egypt, the Arab World and Africa,” Yacoub stated, adding that it would treat everyone for free. "It is an extension for the Magdi Yacoub Foundation (MYF)," Yacoub explained.

Magdi Ishak, chief executive of the MYF, said that the new center is scheduled to take three years of construction, starting September or October, adding that the construction will be funded by donations.

In her speech in the conference, Ghada Waly, minister of social solidarity, affirmed the ministry’s support to the MYF, adding that the foundation serves 3,000 patients. Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly also attended the conference.

The Magdi Yacoub Foundation was founded in 2008 with the aim of establishing an international medical center to offer health services for free to the less privileged.

Subsequently, the Aswan Heart Center Project (AHC) was launched in 2009, as an integral part of the MYF to establish a center of excellence to combat heart disease in Egypt.

In August 2017, Yacoub said in an interview on Al Nahar channel, “I believe in serving and loving humanity, and I don’t care whether I go to heaven or hell, as religion is humanity.”

“We will build a huge international medical city with creative designs and on 30 acres in New Aswan for heart disease researches. We hope that all Egyptians will be proud of this city, as it will serve humanity, sciences, training and beauty,” Yacoub stated.

Yacoub was among the first three surgeons to perform an open heart surgery in Nigeria in 1974. In 1986, he was a part of the team that developed the techniques of the heart-lung transplantation at the National Heart and Lung Institute.

He also led a British research team at Harefield hospital in 2007, aiming to grow a part of the human heart using stem cells. These efforts were all exerted in order to overcome the shortage of heart transplant donations.