Al‑Balsam Saudi Charity Completes 112 Cardiac Procedures in Nigeria Within Six Days

Updated 6 min 43 sec ago

October 23, 2026 04:12

RIYADH: The Saudi medical charity Al‑Balsam Association for Training and Health Development completed 28 open‑heart surgeries and 84 cardiac catheterizations in Nigeria over a six‑day period from 13 to 18 October.

The mission, conducted under the supervision of the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, was carried out in the capital Abuja and included heart‑valve replacements, repairs, coronary artery bypass grafts and other complex cardiac procedures.

The medical team comprised 10 Saudi volunteers and 35 Nigerian professionals, who provided care at the Nizamiye and Zenith Hospitals, as well as Zenith’s Kidney Center.

The charity thanked Saudi Ambassador to Nigeria Yousef bin Mohammed Al‑Balawi and embassy staff for their support and for meeting the team. Dr. Ahmed Al‑Ahmari, Al‑Balsam’s executive director, said recent Houthi attacks in Yemen disrupted the team’s travel. Their flight from Riyadh was postponed and ultimately canceled, and an alternative flight from Dammam also failed.

“Faced with the choice of turning back or finding another route, the team opted for the more challenging journey: traveling by land across the King Fahd Causeway to Manama (in Bahrain), then continuing to Doha (in Qatar) before flying to Abuja,” Al‑Ahmari explained.

Upon arrival the volunteers proceeded directly from the airport to the hospitals, where they encountered limited resources—only one operating room and a single intensive‑care bed served several specialties. Equipment breakdowns and heavy rains added to the delays, but the team persisted.

Both Nizamiye and Zenith hospitals, together with Zenith’s Kidney Center, praised the Saudi volunteers for their medical expertise and unwavering commitment to humanitarian work, and presented them with certificates of appreciation.

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