RIYADH: Al-Balsam Association for Training and Health Development has been honored for treating 112 heart patients in Kyrgyzstan between Nov. 10-17. The association, under the supervision of the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, carried out surgeries on patients at the National Center for Cardiology and Internal Medicine Mirakhinov, and the Scientific Research Institute of Heart Surgery and Organ Transplantation in Bishkek, the country’s capital. The association completed 18 open-heart operations and 94 interventional and diagnostic catheterization procedures, most of which were difficult cases. Kyrgyzstan honored the medical team in a closing ceremony attended by Saad Al-Dhawayan, the deputy ambassador of the Kingdom in Bishkek, and Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Health Alymkadyr Beishenaliev. Al-Dhawayan said that relations between the Kingdom and Kyrgyzstan were strong and growing in all fields and at various levels, and praised efforts during the medical campaign. Beishenaliev praised the efforts of the Al-Balsam Association’s medical team, expressing his hopes for more cooperation in the field of health to benefit from the expertise of Saudi doctors. Dr. Abdullah Ashmik, the cardiac surgeon and head of the medical team, spoke of the Kingdom’s humanitarian efforts to reach all those in need of its services throughout the world.