Cardiac surgeon lends a hand in native Ethiopia

October 18, 2007:The first open heart surgery in Ethiopia was performed by the Detroit Medical Center's Dr. Ingida Asfaw on a 19-year-old patient.

That was four years ago.

"There was literally nobody in the country to do it," said the Ethiopian-born cardiac surgeon.

That's why Asfaw established the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association in 2001. Through ENAHPA, he has corralled the services of nearly 1,000 medical personnel internationally and made 10 missions to Ethiopia -- all to address the medical needs of a country with a life expectancy of only 49.

Close to a cardiac surgeon's heart

In 1958, Asfaw's parents bought him a ticket to America on a cargo ship. He made the two-week voyage alone and was greeted on these shores by a sponsoring family in Virginia.

"I was only 16," he said. "It was scary: a new environment, new faces, new culture. But I had to leave my country to become a doctor. At the time, there was not one medical school in the country."

Ethiopia's monarchy was overthrown by a Marxist junta in 1974. Since then, coups, famine and refugee problems have hindered the nation's ability to address basic human needs. According to the ENAHPA, there is one nurse for every 5,000 people in Ethiopia, which is now a democracy. In the United States, where we complain about a nurses shortage, there is one for every 110 people.

Asfaw always knew he wanted to do something to address that gap.

"Somehow I found myself looking at a book in the library when I was in sixth grade," he said. "It talked about these tiny organisms called bacteria microbes. I was curious why they made people sick. At that time, I made up my mind I was going to be a doctor."

Making a world of difference

Asfaw said people always ask him why he's helping people overseas.

"What you consider poor health care in this country is equivalent to what middle-class people get in Ethiopia," he said. "It's a matter of degree. This is a humanitarian effort."

Indeed, ENAHPA is treating children and adults with HIV/AIDS, providing free HIV/AIDS medications, training new physicians and establishing maternal child health centers. The infant mortality rate is 125 deaths per 1,000 live births in Ethiopia, compared with 6.9 deaths per 1,000 in the United States.

But even those efforts aren't good enough for Asfaw. Now in his late 60s, he's talking about extending his model to other nations.

"Once you have a vision, you have to continue to drive toward it," he said. "It takes persistence and consistency. And it takes faith." (FREE PRESS)