Nigeria Requires 10,000 Open-Heart Surgeries Yearly, Says UNTH CMD

NIGERIA is required to perform about 10,000 open-heart surgeries yearly, in order to meet the yearnings of Nigerians who are in need of heart surgeries,Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Dr has said.

According to Amah, statistics indicate a growing trend of heart-related diseases among Nigerians, adding that governments must as prioritise efforts to address the problem.

Amah stated that UNTH has a long list of patients waiting for surgeries over various heart diseases, explaining that from March 2013 when the open heart surgery programme was restarted at the hospital, over 80 cases has been successfully handled.

Amah said bulk of Nigerians who embark on oversea medical tourism do so over heart-related diseases, adding that more resources could be saved if government paid attention to the issue.

Briefing reporters in Enugu yesterday during the 8th session of the hospital open-heart surgery, which started on Monday, Amah explained that the target of the hospital was to perform at least 100 open-heart surgeries yearly, beginning from next year.

The ongoing open-heart surgery is being done at the hospital in collaboration with medical team from the Royal Hospital, Belfast, U.S., led by Dr Onyekwele Nzewi.
Amah stated that the development was borne out of the need to tackle several cases, which had become a regular thing at the hospital, stressing that 15 patients, including a former minister of communication, is part of the open heart surgeries currently being done in the institution.