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(AWP) - With the participation of 16 volunteers from various medical specialities, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) concluded a project for laparoscopy heart surgery for adults in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott.

The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said that the team of project volunteers performed 37 specialised and minimally-invasive operations using the latest laparoscopic and robotic devices for heart surgery.

Doctor Othman al-Othman, a Cardiologist in Saudi Arabia and team member, said all the operations carried out in Mauritania "were a success. We ask God Almighty to grant [the patients] health and a speedy recovery."

Syed Mohamed Ould Othman, Head of the Catheterisation Department at the National Cardiology Centre in Nouakchott, said that the campaign included surgeries that are rarely available in developing countries.

He explained, "This campaign is like other campaigns that we always conduct in cooperation with the Muslim World League and the National Cardiology Centre. We perform open-heart surgeries and catheterisation procedures to install valves and stents at the National Cardiology Centre. In this mission, we performed very important operations because they are very rare in [developing] countries."

Ould Othman stressed that most Mauritanians can’t afford the high costs of such critical surgeries.

He added, "This type of operation wouldn’t have been carried out were not for the cooperation between the National Cardiology Centre and the Muslim World League, because it is difficult for citizens and the costs are very high. The simplest operation, for example, costs about 30 thousand euros, which is approximately 12 million [Mauritanian] ouguiyas."

The Saudi Press Agency confirmed that the project is an extension of the voluntary medical projects related to heart surgery provided by the Kingdom through its humanitarian arm, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, to help those in need around the world.