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General news

Cancer Day: Neurosurgeon decries poor standard of equipment in Nigeria

Cancer Day: Neurosurgeon decries poor standard of equipment in Nigeria
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Cancer
Abuja, Feb. 4, 2019 (NAN) Dr Biodun Ogungbo, a Neurological Surgeon with a private Hospital in Abuja, has decried poor standard of cancer equipment in the country.
Ogungbo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday to commemorate World Cancer Day.
The theme of this year’s World Cancer event is “I am and I will’’ – all about your story and your commitment.
“If you have used poor quality machines to image the patient, the result is likely to be poor as well. If you do not have the right reagents for histology, you will give an unbalanced report.
“The bottom line is that cancer patients are poorly looked after in Nigeria. Cancer patients must travel from one obsolete machine to the other.
“The basic radiotherapy machines are not available and cancer queues are so long. So, even though we may need the fancy stuff for some people, we lack the basic stuff for the majority,” he said.
Ogungbo says cancer is scary and demands proper attention, adding that cancer remains a death sentence in the country and anyone can be affected.
He said some of the equipment to investigating cancer like state-of-the-art MRI scanners, PET scans, bone scans and even high-quality CT scanners were not available in many of the tertiary institution.
Ogungbo also said even the quality of diagnosis was usually suspected, from poor radiological reporting to suspect histological diagnosis.
According to him, drugs for cancer treatment are not manufactured in Nigeria and therefore difficult to come by.
He added that if one could not afford to travel out to another country, his remaining time on earth could be miserable.
“Cancer is not funny and a lot of compassion is required in the management of patients. The little we can do is show a little empathy and make life just a little more pleasant.
“Unfortunately, we are all exposed to the risks of cancer ranging from mobile phones that can cause brain cancer, to cigarettes causing lung cancer, toxins and poisons in food and the recent upsurge in both breast and cervical cancer.
“Of course, blood cancers like multiple myeloma, leukemia and even prostate cancer are making their mark, decimating Nigerians in their hundreds daily,” Ogungbo said.
He said the commonest cancers in the country were breast, prostate, cervical, lung, brain, bowel and blood cancers, adding that there is need to go for regular check up to rule out all doubt.
NAN reports that World Cancer Day is an international day marked on Feb. 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. (NAN)
OEO/GOM/MST
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

General news

Trust local healthcare services, Neurosurgeon advises Nigerians

Trust local healthcare services, Neurosurgeon advises Nigerians
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Healthcare
Abuja, Jan. 17, 2019 (NAN) Dr Biodun Ogungbo, a Neurological Surgeon based in Abuja, has advised Nigerians to trust local healthcare providers as it could lead to more improvements and better service delivery.
Ogungbo gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
“Some patients have had operations performed in Nigeria, India, Germany and in Dubai with poor outcomes.
“The stories often widely reported are the tales of woe which scares others from undergoing the much needed interventions.
“In many respects, people then wait and delay treatment till the condition worsens, making full recovery harder. Yet, operations on the spine can be effective in delivering patients from a life of misery,” he said.
Ogungbo said the Minister of Health recently agreed that the visibility of Nigerian hospitals needed to be improved, saying that access to information about what services were available, needed to be created.
He said there was need to advertise the skills available, the facilities that could do it and how we could work together.
“I am quite impressed when I hear about the array of skills present in Nigeria, we run down what we have, we create an impression that nothing is working and that is not correct.
“There are centres here in Nigeria doing renal transplant, a lot of Nigerians go abroad for renal transplant, but it is being done in this country.
“So, let us use these facilities, we are not marketing or advertising any doctor but we market the facilities and services,” Ogungbo said.
He said an estimated 75 to 85 per cent of all adults would experience some form of back pain during their lifetime, adding that about 90 per cent of all cases, pain improved without surgery.
Ogungbo however said some people were debilitated by pain, numbness or weakness of the arms and legs that needed surgery, saying they needed surgery to remove pain and to relieve them of paralysis in some situations.
“Yet, there is a real fear of spine surgery in Nigeria. Many people including doctors are truly scared of paralysis and death.
“They have heard and continue to hear tales of bad outcomes and death following spine surgery.
“The hospital and many others in Abuja offer conservative or surgical management for patients with neck pain, arm weakness, back pain and leg weakness,” he said.
Ogungbo said there was great opportunity for Nigerian hospitals to seize the gauntlet and push for improved visibility, accessibility and affordability. (NAN)
OEO/CHOM/MST
Edited by Chioma Ugboma/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Patients’ right: Neurosurgeon urges training for health workers

Patients’ right: Neurosurgeon urges training for health workers
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Training
Abuja, Oct. 23, 2018 ( NAN) Dr Biodun Ogungbo, a Neurological Surgeon, Brain and Spine Surgery Consortium (BASS), Abuja, has called for adequate training of health workers on patient’s right.
Ogungbo made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
“Some hospitals, doctors and nurses refuse to disclose the names of drugs or treatments to their patients for fear the patient will know what they are taking and then go off to buy it from an outside source.
“Some doctors also refuse to disclose details of operations performed, implants used or other critical details for whatever reason, best known to them.
“Patients, relatives, doctors and nurses should join the debate, especially if you are a healthcare practitioner and most especially, if you work in such an environment. You might even be one of the doctors or the owner of such a dreadful hospital,” he said.
Ogungbo said the right of patients are usually infringed more often in public hospitals, saying some will remove urinary catheters, cannulas, bandages on wounds from the patients before tossing them out.
He however said some other hospitals also sometimes physically force patients out of the hospital bed, once discharged and refuse to re-admit the patient.
“A few hospitals have in my experience, refused the use of their ambulances, to convey the patients to the nearest hospital or home, in a childish game of retribution,’’ the expert noted.
He said the most important person and the reason hospitals exist is the patient, saying that the man who ensures the bills are paid including the salaries of healthcare practitioners is the patient.
Ogungbo advised healthcare practitioners to have a change of attitude towards patients, adding that their job is to keep the patients alive and in good health.
“We cannot be nasty to the patients or perform acts that reduce their chances of survival, by not giving them the right information.
“So, if patients don’t come, you are a goner, once you get that, you realise that the attitude and behaviour of the practitioner is to ensure the wellbeing and longevity of the patient, dead patients do not pay the bills,” he said. (NAN)
OEO/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Exercise to prevent stroke – Neurosurgeon advises

Exercise to prevent stroke – Neurosurgeon advises
By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Stroke
Abuja, June 21, 2018 (NAN) Dr Biodun Ogungbo, a Neurosurgeon based in Abuja, on Thursday recommended exercise as a preventive mechanism against stroke.
Ogungbo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that exercise was the only way to prevent stroke.
According to him, it is cheaper to prevent stroke than to treat a stroke.
The expert therefore advised Nigerians to exercise to prevent stroke.
“Stroke is a problem that occurs in the brain. It occurs when there is no blood supply to a part of the brain which makes that part of the brain suffer.
“It means therefore that whatever functions that part of the brain does, stop. If for example, it is the part of that brain that supplies eyesight, or to do with hearing or moving the arm or legs or speech.
“If there is no blood supply to that part of the brain, then, that part of the brain becomes injured. It means it stops functioning. That is essentially what stroke is,’’ said Ogungbo.
He said the individual may therefore go blind, deaf or have weakness of an arm, leg or both.
Ogungbo noted that stroke was common in the country, saying most Nigerians know little about or appreciate the magnitude of the problem.
“Misconceptions and myths surrounding stroke must be debunked. The key fact is that every Nigerian knows or is aware of somebody who has suffered a stroke, either it is in the family or is in the neighbourhood or heard.
“The major risk factor for stroke in Nigeria is hypertension or high blood pressure. Other conditions such as diabetes, obesity, smoking, sickle cell disease are also risk factors for stroke.
“Even just being black, Nigerians, Africans, black people in general, predisposes us to stroke. Stroke is also a condition that can run in families,” he said.
Ogungbo also advised Nigerians to be careful of ‘mini’ stroke, saying that if a stroke had happened small before, then it is a warning sign to prevent a bigger one.
“Someone who has had a small stroke needs to go to hospital and not ignore it, and think because the stroke has gone away `my arm is now functioning; that is the end of the matter,’ it is often time not the end of the matter.
“What we teach is the acronym called FAST, which means Facial weakness, Arm weakness, problem in Speech and you need to Telephone or go to the hospital as quickly as possible.’’
The neurosurgeon listed the warning signs of stroke as weakness of the face, arm or leg, problem with speech, or difficulty in walking, sometimes sudden confusion and severe headache.
He, however, advised anyone with the signs to immediately visit the hospital.
“The best prevention of stroke is lifestyle; people who smoke must stop smoking. People who are alcoholic must stop drinking. People who are obese must lose weight.
“Those who do not exercise have to get out and exercise; to keep the heart working properly.
“Anybody who has been diagnosed as having hypertension must continue to do whatever they can to keep the blood pressure under control,’’ Ogungbo said.
He warned that hypertension could lead to stroke if not properly managed, adding that treatment of high blood pressure cannot be treated by pastors or imams or native medications.
He described hypertension as a silent killer, adding that it can be normal today and high the following day.
“Having a stroke also puts you at increased risk of developing other serious medical problems which can often lead to death in the immediate period following the stroke or several months after.
“Going to a hospital quickly after you have suffered a stroke can help your doctor prevent these serious medical problems and can make a difference in saving your life and how quickly you recover.
“So, stroke can be managed in the sense that we can help in preventing death, reducing the disability and also preventing another stroke,’’ Ogungbo said. (NAN)
OEO/HS/MST
Edited by Halima Sheji/Muhammad Suleiman Tola