The Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, known as OAUTHC, Ile Ife, Osun State, has created a good record by carrying out a paediatric open heart surgeries on six children who are from various parts of the country such as warri (Delta State), Port- Harcourt (Rivers State), offa (Kwara State), Ilesa and Ikire in Osun state, including five of them with holes in the heart.
The surgeries where carried out between Tuesday and Sunday 26th and 1st of May 2016 respectively.
The Chief Medical Director, of OAUTHC in the person of Professor Victor A. Adetiloye passed a remark to Vanguard saying, “This is an accomplishment of our dreams and vision seeing that this is possible in ile-Ife,” and disclosed to Vanguard that 20 children in addition have been slated for June-July 2016 for open heart surgeries, in which the hospital just hope to carry out routinely every quarterly period.
Adetiloye passed a remark by commending the cardiothoracic medical team of surgeons, lead by Dr Uvie Onakpoya and Dr.Akin Ogunrombi, a Paediatric Cardiologist, Dr. John Okeniyi, an Open Heart Task Force, operating theater nurses, and a host of other departmental staffs of the hospital including the Dean of Faculty of Clinic Sciences, OAU, Ile- Ife who donated blood voluntarily.
Professor Adetiloye who felt regretted about the high incidence of cardiac diseases and their negative impact to poor health status and low life expectancy in the country, he proclaimed it was in the bid to stem the tide, that the OAUTHC Management, Ile-Ife, Over the past years made heavy investment in the procurement of consumables, equipment and the training of personnel effectively diagnose and treat heart diseases both surgically and medically.
He also stated that the immense effect of heart diseases both acquired and congenital which were considered as uncommon and exotic on the high rise. “In fact the World Health Organization estimates that to treat the heart diseases in any country, at least 400 open heart surgeries need to be carried out on every one million population annually.
For instance, assuming Nigeria’s current population is about 170 million people, it means that Nigeria should be carrying out a minimum of 68,000 heart surgeries every year.
Not until this year 2016, the OAUTHC runs both paediatric cardiology and adult services which are Transthoracic PDA ligation, pacemaker implantation, pericardectomies and various forms of closely related surgical operations on the chest, heart and blood vessels, but the wish to transit and start performing open heart surgeries spurred the management on the leadership of the present Chief Medical Director, about two years back to mount up a task force for open heart surgery headed by Professor M.O. Balogun, who happens to be a renowned adult Cardiologist,” Adetiloyem mentioned.
At this point, the Hospital entered a partnership with the Cardiac Eye International Foundation, a foreign NGO headed by Prof. Dr. Maqsood M. Elahi.
As quoted, “an 8 ½ month-old female infant with congenital rubella syndrome referred from Delta State was the receiver of the first exploratory interaction between the hospital and the Cardiac Eye International Foundation. Then in December 2015, she went through a simultaneous PDA closure and repair of her bilateral cataracts successfully,” the CMD took note as well.
He also mentioned that the OAUTHC is poised to become a referral center for cardiac surgery in the western Africa sub region and as well as a training institution for the various cadres of staff involved in open heart surgery.
“There is the need to commend the drastic efforts of the Ministry of health, in the person of Prof. Isaac Adewole, and the Federal Ministry of Health for their support towards the successful conduct of our open heart surgeries.
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