The National Hospital, Abuja, successfully carried out an open heart surgery on some children recently – the first in recent times. However, many Nigerians are worried about the cost of this surgery. DAVID ADUGE-aNI reports.
It was in 2006 that an open heart surgery was first performed at the National Hospital, Abuja, the nation’s capital city. At that time, the hospital had entered into collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, The Eagle Foundation. LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that about six patients were operated upon and discharged then, but for one reason or the other, the hospital could not continue with the project until recently. Observers believed that lack of financial support coupled with ineffective and inconsistent management at the hospital were responsible for the collapse of the project.
Only a fortnight ago, the hospital announced a resuscitation of the project, adding that it had already carried out a successful operation on five children while the sixth patient was still in the theatre undergoing surgery. The chief medical director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr Jeff Momoh, told newsmen in Abuja that the idea of an open-heart surgery was to assist many Nigerians who cannot afford to travel abroad for medical treatment and also to ensure that they meet their core mandate of providing expert medical care in the country. “The National Hospital, Abuja, has successfully carried out an open heart surgery on six patients. This has been done in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation, The Hospital for Humanity. This NGO with its experts is led by Nigerians.
“The idea of the open heart surgery arose due to the need to assist many Nigerians who cannot afford to travel abroad for medical treatment and also to ensure that we meet our core mandate of providing expert medical care to Nigerians here in Nigeria thereby reducing medical tourism on our economy,” he said.
The chief executive officer, Hospital for Humanity, Dr Segun Ajayi, explained that the reason for the project was because many Nigerian children are dying due to the absence of open heart surgery in the country. “What is driving us into this project is that our children are dying due to lack of surgery in the country and when they go abroad, the cost is extremely high. We want to embark on about 200 open heart surgery in the country in the next one year. This collaboration is what we are extending to Nigerian children,” he stated.
On how the hospital was going to sustain the project to avoid its collapse like what happened in the past, Dr Momoh said, “What we have done this time around is that the equipment we are using for the surgery belongs to the National Hospital. They were equipped by the intensive unit specifically for this project, which is equivalent to a state of the art equipment anywhere in the world.
“We are sure that this will be sustainable and we have trained our own man-power and we will continue to collaborate with this NGO and other NGOs that are willing to collaborate with us in terms of funding. One thing you have to realise is that, the government cannot fund the health sector alone.”
Leader of the team of surgeons that conducted the surgery at the National Hospital, Dr Babaniyi, pointed out that the hospital is saving Nigerians the pains of travelling out of the country where it costs N4 million or even up to N6 million in India excluding transportation fare and other logistics depending on the type surgery one is going for.
On the health conditions of the affected children, Dr Babaniyi said the children are doing well, adding that the hospital has subsidized the cost of the surgery.
But how much is the actual cost for the surgery in the hospital, Dr Momoh said, “If you are going to India for this surgery, it will cost you approximately N4million, excluding logistics, transportation and others and when you put them together, it will be around N8 million to N10 million.
“What we are charging these patients at the National Hospital is less than 20 per cent of that. The patients have paid varying rates but far less than what you think it will cost. We have provided heavily subsidized services to ensure that they benefit from the service. We need philanthropists because there are many Nigerians who cannot afford to pay even if it is N150,000. One of the patients paid N150,000 and that is what they could afford.
“We are not charging the patients according to what we have invested in the project; we are saying that some of these projects are not consumable. So, the cost of the services will come down as people collaborate with us. It is not just how much it costs the patient travelling outside, it also costs the country foreign exchange, in terms of dollars.” He appealed to well-meaning Nigerians, NGOs, philanthropists and businessmen to fund this programme and other programmes in the hospital.
Investigations by LEADERSHIP Weekend revealed that different parents paid different charges for the surgery in the hospital. For instance, a parent in the hospital whose daughter has undergone the surgery told our reporter that he paid about N600,000 for the entire operation. The parent who preferred anonymity said he is happy for paying the amount because he was not unaware of the high cost of similar surgeries outside the country.
Another parent at the hospital who refused to disclose how much he paid for the operation simply said, “My baby is getting better. She is great. The amount we paid was subsidized for us by the hospital. I will advise Nigerians with similar problems to visit the National Hospital, Abuja.
By: David Aduge-Ani
Leadership News
ABUJA: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
PORTHARCOURT: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
LAGOS: Training Schedule for Basic Life Support BLS, Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support ACLS, First Aid, CPR, AED
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