CARDIOTHORACIC PERSONALITY
CARDIOTHORACIC PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR
TAN SRI DATO ’ DR YAHYA AWANG
For the 12 Global Health Asia-Pacific Awards 2020 judges , the choice of Tan Sri Dato ’ Dr Yahya Awang for the Personality of the Year Award was an easy one .
Despite a career spent mostly in Malaysia , Dr Yahya ’ s reputation has spread far and wide across the Asia- Pacific through five decades of medical practice and hospital administration .
Not only was he a pioneer in cardiothoracic surgery in Malaysia , he evoked in the country ’ s top politicians the need to bring the discipline to the masses . He followed through on this dream by establishing a public heart centre that is counted among the leaders of its kind globally .
Today , he is working to bring a similar private sector project in Kuala Lumpur to equal prominence .
Having returned to his native Malaysia in the mid-1970s after studying medicine in Australia , Dr Yahya chose to specialise in cardiothoracic surgery . By the next decade , he was one of just two heart surgeons in a country that had exceptionally limited capacity for cardiac patients .
This would change in 1989 when he successfully performed heart bypass surgery on Malaysia ’ s most prominent patient , its prime minister , Dr Mahathir Mohamed .
“ The day after the surgery , the prime minister was so happy he was alive that he asked me what I wanted in return . I told him Malaysia needed a dedicated heart institute with heart surgeons to work there . That is how IJN came about ,” recalled Dr Yahya in an interview with Global Health Asia-Pacific .
Known affectionately by its Malay acronym IJN , the National Heart Institute opened in 1992 . Under the leadership of Dr Yahya , and through a unique public-private model , it was established with the mission of treating the most needy Malaysian patients while also welcoming paying health tourists .
It has since been instrumental in transforming the level of Malaysian expertise in cardiovascular healthcare , not least by guiding the training of over 50 local heart surgeons as a teaching institute and pushing the boundaries of research in collaboration with other institutions around the world .
Having spent a lifetime in public service , Dr Yahya might have been expected to settle down into welldeserved retirement . This he did for a short spell before he realised he still had much more to offer to Malaysian healthcare .
In 2017 , CVSKL , a private integrated cardiac and vascular hospital , opened in Kuala Lumpur with Dr Yahya as its chairman and a practicing cardiothoracic surgeon .
“ Heart disease has been the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in this country for a long time . Although we don ’ t lack the expertise to treat patients , we lack the facilities , and there is still a long waiting list . But IJN , and now CVSKL , have helped tremendously ,” said Dr Yahya .
“ When we first started CVSKL , my aim was twofold really : first that it would be the hub of medical tourism in Malaysia for heart diseases , and
Tan Sri Dato ’ Dr Yahya Awang
secondly , to be the top treatment destination for cardiac and vascular diseases in this country . We are close to achieving both of these now ,” he said . IJN currently treats the general population of Malaysia , while CVSKL serves those who can afford treatment and those in the other surrounding parts of the region .
“ The fact that I have the top consultants and cardiologists in the region under one roof helps this a lot ,” he added .
Dr Jacob Thomas , chairman of the awards jury , offered his heartfelt thanks , both as a Malaysian and a physician , for Dr Yahya ’ s contributions to healthcare in the country .
“ For all his contributions as someone who has achieved so much , the humility and the desire to advance Malaysian healthcare while not stopping at what he ’ s achieved are things that prove Dr Yahya ’ s right to be voted cardiothoracic personality of the year ,” he said .
“ He is someone who has pioneered cardiothoracic surgery in the country , trained scores of doctors to follow him into the speciality , and transformed heart care in Malaysia .”
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com DECEMBER 2020
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