Egypt's Magdi Yacoub presented with Greatest Nile Collar

Internationally renowned cardiac surgeon Magdi Yacoub awarded the highest national honour for his contributions to medicine and humanitarian work

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today presented renowned heart surgeon Magdi Yacoub with the Greatest Nile Collar in recognition of his distinguished career and contributions to science and humanity. The presentation ceremony took place at the presidential palace in Heliopolis.
Mubarak called on both the Egyptian public and private sectors to support Yacoub and his projects. Mubarak added “I look forward to the opening of the Aswan Centre for Heart Disease Studies to become a surgical centre and the nucleus of the medical world.”
“The Collar is given to those who added to Egypt, we are honouring Yacoub the person, a talented Egyptian who contributes to the name of Egypt abroad, a name that brings appreciation and admiration at the world at large.”
Moreover, Mubarak added that Yacoub's international charity, Chain of Hope, provides care and treatment for children with correctable cardiac conditions in developing and war-torn countries such as Egypt, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Jamaica. The charity has established training and research programmes in cardiac units in countries where it works.
Yacoub and his team carried out in the space of a year over 190 open-heart surgeries, around 450 heart bypass operations, and also examined more than 3,000 cases of people suffering from heart disease.
The celebration was attended by senior state officials and political figures.
Yacoub is currently Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London and founder and director of research at the Harefield Heart Science Centre (Magdi Yacoub Institute), overseeing more than sixty scientists and students in the areas of tissue engineering, myocardial regeneration, stem cell biology, end stage heart failure and transplant immunology.