Hospital performs first open heart surgery in Ekiti

Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti

Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti has performed its first open heart surgery carried out by a team of experts, led by Prof. Tayo Adeleke and Prof. Paul Davies, two US based cardiologists.

This revelation was made on Saturday evening at a ceremony held at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) marking the review of the landmark and successful cardiovascular surgical operation.

The university authority said the team of surgeons were able to record successes in all the patients operated upon, due to the dexterity of the medical personnel in ABUTH and the modern equipment in the hospital.

Team leader, Prof. Adeleke, advised that for the heart to be in good shape, Nigerians must conduct a routine check on their blood pressure, which has been identified as the chief cause of heart failure globally.

Also, he disclosed that the experts from the US have successfully performed over 10, 000 open heart surgeries for a period spanning 21 years, pointing out that good equipment and personnel must be provided in our hospitals, the way Aare Afe Babalola did at ABUTH.

“You can get quality health delivery here in ABUTH with what l have seen; with this hospital, I don’t think there is need for medical tourism again in Nigeria,” he added.

The founder of the 400-bed hospital, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), described the breakthrough as a celebration of a memorable success in the medical history of the country.

Saluting the experts, Aare Babalola added that Nigerian doctors and other professionals are as brilliant as their foreign counterparts, but they were being under-utilized by the level of decadence in the system occasion by paucity of equipment.

He said “it is sad that our people and hospitals are not well equipped, have no exposure to the right technology and that was why I established this university to make up for the gap.

We are partnering some hospitals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, India, Germany and Dubai to expose our students to better training in the course of being here.”