Health minister re-opens UNTH open heart surgery unit

The University of Nigeria’s Teaching Hospital,UNTH, Enugu has resuscitated its open heart surgery unit. The unit was suspended ten years ago, following its movement from an old site within the Enugu metropolis to its permanent site at Ituku-Ozala. Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, who commissioned the unit, Monday, congratulated the Management of the UNTH for resuscitating the open heart surgery programme, noting that it was in line with the transformation programme of President Goodluck Jonathan’s led administration. “He has insisted that given the intelligence of Nigerians, there is no reason why medical skills should not be available in Nigeria. A situation where people are flown abroad for medical missions is not the best for us. His vision is already yielding positive results,” the Minister noted. He said that unlike in the past where few hospitals were designated as centres of excellence, all Federal teaching hospitals were now centres of excellence. While pledging the support of the federal government to the programme at UNTH, Prof. Chukwu urged them to remain focused, adding that he would encourage the Kanu Heart Foundation to move some of their patients to the hospitals as it would reduce the cost of taking them abroad for treatment. In a remark, the UNTH, Chief Medical Director, Dr Chris Amah said the hospital suspended the exercise about ten years ago following its movement from its former site and the absence of the necessary facilities needed for such exercise. He noted that upon assumption of office about two years ago, he decided to resuscitate the programme by partnering with foreign organisations since it would be difficult to use the local surgeons to re-commence the exercise when they had not done it for the past ten years. He disclosed that the hospital is currently partnering with a United States based Non-Governmental Organisation, the VOOM Foundation, also known as the Vincent Ohaji Memorial Foundation that led a team of 14 medical experts to Nigeria for the sole purpose of resuscitating the programme at the UNTH. “Vincent led a team of 14 experts, 11, US, 2 from UK, one from Canada, 4 cardiac surgeons, 2 Cardiac nurses and the rest of them. “Interestingly, two of them are Nigerians and alumni of this place. They are practising in the UK. “Since they arrived, on March 18, they have handled four cases. We want to stem the tide of medical mission to India and so on. This is a programme that we are all committed to sustain. “The medical mission is planning to come every two to three months until our own local surgeons have their hands strong and firm on it, before they start delaying. Another mission is planned for May, another July. Before the end of this year, we will have four missions. We want to make sure that before the next mission, some of the deficits we have noticed would have been rectified”, he said. He explained that it takes about two million naira for a patient to be fully treated of heart related ailment, but because of the subsidization of the surgery by VOOM foundation and other organisations across the globe, the cost had been reduced to N500,000. He pleaded with other organisations as well as public spirited individuals to also provide further support for the hospital in order to ensure the sustenance of the programme. He said: “After this programme, Nigerians should be able to buy one or two open heart surgeries for citizens who would enable us to do it even free for the people. This is a sort of campaign we want to embark on for now”. DailyPost