International Medical Health Organization made the following announcement in its newsletter issue No: 11, regarding the open- ing of Heart Treatment Complex at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital: We are very excited to share with you news out of Jaffna, where the Jaffna Teaching Hospital Heart Treatment Complex was officially unveiled this week, thanks to the hard work and commitment of Jaffna cardiologist Dr. Lakshman. IMHO was proud to be a part of a large collaboration between various NGOs, aid agencies, and local doctors in making this project a reality. As many of you may remember, IMHO committed a significant amount of time and resources over the past 2 years towards helping to establish a cardiac catheterization lab at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital.
We first brought this issue to the attention of supporters like you in 2008 and shared the need for enhanced cardiac care facilities at the hospi- tal, which directly serves an area of 500,000+ persons and indirect- ly serves millions through the Northeast. We chronicled these needs in our appeal, which appeared on our website back in December 2008 Through continued network- ing and helping local doctors to leverage funds from other sources to the maximum extent, this proj- ect was able to come to fruition. With this in mind, we are thrilled to announce that on Tuesday morning, February 9th, the Canadian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Mr. Pruce Levy, officially opened the newly built Heart Treatment Complex at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH). The new complex was funded and con- structed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) under the UN Development Programme (UNDP), with early support and attention being drawn to this need by Dr. Lakshman and IMHO.
This building will soon house a state-of-the-art cath lab unit, the equipment for which is soon to be donated by the aid wing of the French government. It also sets the foundation for starting a car- diothoracic unit at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital where open heart bypass surgeries may be performed in the future. IMHO is constantly in touch with visionary leaders on the ground like Dr. Lakshman, who are able to push important proj- ects like this forward. Jaffna Government Agent K. Ganesh, who spoke at the event, said that the long standing need for a heart treatment facility is being met with the opening of the new com- plex. The Director of the Jaffna Teaching Hospital and many oth- ers participated in the opening.
On behalf of all of us at IMHO, and all of those in Sri Lanka who will benefit from this new cardiac treatment center in the many years to come, we thank you for your support and commitment. What an important milestone this is! IMHO was happy to play a small but important role in this effort. During this crucial time in Sri Lanka and around the world, as we face monumental challenges in providing better access to qual- ity medical and health care for those most at-risk populations, we need YOUR HELP now more than ever. With just $10/month you can help save and improve lives in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Please consider making a dona- tion to IMHO today. You can donate online via PayPal as a one- time or recurring donation (the amount & frequency of which are up to you). On the web: http://www.theimho.org You can also donate via mail by sending a check made out to “IMHO” to the following address: IMHO, IMHO Treasurer, PO Box 61265, Staten Island, New York 10306, United States