Consultant General Surgeon and Group Medical Director, Reddington Hospital, Dr. Olutunde Lalude, has said that to achieve the desired medical excellence and improved healthcare at a subsidised rate in Nigeria, all Nigerians need to key into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The medical director made this call when the hospital performed a successful first complex open-heart surgery, which was a coronary artery bypass graft and mitral valve repair on a 66 years old man, Mr. Oluwatoyin Adebiyi, at the hospital in Victoria Island, Lagos. Lalude disclosed that the complex surgery performed by a full Nigerian team of specialists demonstrates the hospital’s ability to expand the range of what is possible in Nigeria particularly at this time when access to overseas medical travel has been restricted.
Lalude explained that the surgery involved temporarily stopping the heart to carry out the procedures by first putting the patient on a heart-lung machine. Thereafter the heart was opened and the malfunctioning mitral valve was repaired.
He further noted that in addition, the three blocked vessels supplying blood to the heart were bypassed and blood flow was restored as the heart was then successfully restarted and the patient is now back to life. He said: “However, we are pleased to say that 24 hours later the patient did very well, talking eating and drinking and he also recuperated well postoperatively and soon the patient will be considered for discharge”.
He said the Reddington Cardiac Centre and the Tristate Cardiovascular Consulting Group, recently, signed a collaboration agreement to commence a new Tristate Reddington Cardiac programme at the hospital in Victora Island adding that the successful surgery highlights the benefit of this strategic collaboration aimed at reversing medical tourism abroad as the hospital proved accessible and affordable specialist cardiology care in Nigeria. He said: “The Reddington tristate cardiac centre offers a full range of cardiology services for both adult and children including 24-hour emergency response for cardiac emergencies”.
The patient Mr. Oluwatoyin Adebiyi, while speaking to journalists, thanked God that he survived the surgery and called on all Nigerians to at least once in a year go for medical screening for their own good.
He said there are many Nigerians who have one sickness or the other but they are not aware that they have such ailment until they are at the point of death especially heart-related sicknesses.
