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