Lagos – A Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Obi Emerole, on Tuesday called for a concerted effort by both public and private sectors in building capacity in the nation’s health sector.
Emerole, who is also the president of a non-governmental organisation, Cardiovascular Education Foundation, spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that the foundation is organising a three-day Lagos Cardiovascular Symposium 2015 tagged: Advancing Cardiovascular Education, Research and Patient Care.’’
It will take place in Lagos from Aug.5 to 7.
He said that the poor healthcare delivery in Nigeria was due to poor investment in capacity building.
Emerole, a Nigerian based in Atlanta Georgia, U.S., said that building up the capacity would require “the will of the leadership of the government, in the academia and private sector’’.
According to him, there is need for a concerted effort to really build up capacity in the health sector, both within the private and public sector of the country.
“There is need to build up the confidence and it is going to require the will of the government, in the academia and in the private sector.
“I think the medical schools are doing great job in training lots of excellent young doctors, but, unfortunately, we are losing a lot of them to emigration.
“So, while there is a great need for physicians within the country, we are training physicians that are emigrating to go and practice where they have less of a need than what we have.
“So, there is need for a concerted plan to train and retain those doctors and build up capacity in our hospitals, improve the diagnostic capacities and create an enabling environment.
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“It will encourage our young physicians to stay, and provide them with the necessary support to enable them to do their work,“ he said.
The consultant cardiologist said that the foundation was committed to advancing education, training and patient care in the field of heart diseases in the country.
According to him, it aims at providing a firm foundation and a broad review of cardiology for the physicians.
“We hope we will be able to learn things that can help them to improve the care of their patients.
“It is also a forum where stakeholders in the healthcare field can come together and discuss ideas, and hopefully come up with strategies that can help to improve healthcare delivery, “ he said.
Also speaking, Prof. Jane Ajuluchuckwu, another Consultant Cardiologist, said that hypertension remained the biggest burden of heart-related diseases in the country.
Ajuluchuckwu, who works with the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, said, “Hypertension, which is our major problem, can cause stroke and other problems in the vessels.
“Hypertension can damage the muscles of the heart. The major job of the heart is to contract, relax and distribute blood.
“So, if the muscle is not good, it can lead to rhythm problems,“ she said. (NAN)
