The National Hospital, Abuja, recently took twitter by storm by live-tweeting a whole in the heart operation of an 8 year old girl, using its twitter handle; @NatHospital_ABJ.

 

The operation which was sponsored by a US-based non profit organisation, Hospital for Humanity, designed to decrease barriers to healthcare for people living in the least developed countries in the world, in collaboration with the National Hospital is intended to reach over 200 persons  with whole in the heart, using three dedicated hospitals; National Hospital, Jos University Teaching Hospital and Garki Hospital.

 

Although this is the first time in Nigeria that a medical procedure is being live-Tweeted, other countries around the world such as Canada have live-Tweeted heart operations before.

 

The event was very memorable for Nigeria and highlights the country’s ongoing advancements in medicine and technology.  Through their Twitter handles, @hospforhumanity and @NatHospital_ABJ, the organisations intends to reach out to Nigerian doctors based in developing countries, making them aware of the need to come back to Nigeria to support and help the Nigerian medical industry.

 

 

Sharing the surgical process with the public through Tweets has been able to show citizens that Nigerian doctors are able to provide the same services that can be received abroad.

 

Twitter continues to grow as a platform for real-time updates due to the ability to send information out immediately through Tweets.  This gives followers an opportunity to engage in the conversation immediately, which helps raise awareness towards causes.

 

By Martins Ifijeh

This Day