A team of Nigerian healthcare professionals has successfully performed free open-heart surgery in Sokoto.
The team was made up of doctors and nurses from Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife, Osun State, and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Lagos.
The procedures were performed in partnership with the Cardiovascular Surgeons Association of Nigeria at the Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTHS) in Sokoto.
Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Nigeria’s national president Dr Uvie Inakpoya, who spoke at a press conference in Sokoto yesterday, said the team included cardiothoracic surgeons, critical care specialists, anaesthesiologists, and specialised nurses.
Dr Inakpoya praised UDUTHS for providing the necessary equipment and materials for the surgery and the hospital for assisting in the development of personnel in the region.
The procedures, he said, demonstrated that local experts were up to the challenge. He also said the operation, done locally using indigenous specialists, was about 70 per cent cheaper than overseas.
“The cost of surgery in Nigeria is what people pay to just travel to get the same surgery done abroad,” he said.
“We enjoin governments, donor agencies and other institutions to consider providing alternate funding such as health provision coverage and insurance for heart surgeries.”
He went on to say that only approximately 200 heart procedures were performed worldwide each year, accounting for about 7 per cent of those with heart difficulties.
