Aswan’s heart foundation developed new methods in surgeries: Yacoub

CAIRO – 28 February 2020: Renowned Egyptian British heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub on Wednesday said his medical team in his heart center in Upper Egypt’s Aswan have helped him develop new methods concerning heart surgeries, which have become a global role model.

In an interview with Ma’akom (With You) program on CBC, Yacoub said some professors in American universities have urged their students to visit Aswan to learn from the new techniques used in the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation for heart surgeries.

Yacoub was among the first three surgeons to perform an open heart surgery in Nigeria in 1974. In 1986, he was 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.

Earlier in February, Mohammed bin Rashid, the ruler of Dubai and the Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, honored renowned Egyptian-British surgeon Magdy Yacoub with the “scarf of Mohammed bin Rashid for humanitarian action” for his charitable efforts and medical and scientific achievements.

Mohammed bin Rashid also announced raising donations totaling EGP 360 million ($8.17 million) for Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Center in Egypt's Aswan, on the sidelines of the Arab Hope Makers event in Dubai, according to Egyptian state's news agency MENA.