The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital
(LASUTH) in December 2015 carried out the first successful Bone Bridge Surgery
in West Africa as well as successful Cochlear Implant surgeries on three deaf
patients without the support of foreign doctors, the State Government said on
Tuesday.
The State Government, through LASUTH, also had its
first successful Kidney Transplant carried out by the Hospital’s team of
Urologists and Nephrologists in November 2015 and discharged the patient in
good condition on December 1, 2015, while another transplant is being planned.
The State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide
Idris, who made this known at the ongoing Ministerial Press Briefing held at
the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in commemoration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s
one year anniversary, said just in eleven months, the State Government recorded
remarkable feats in the health sector due to the purposeful leadership and
support of the Governor.
He said in the period under review, LASUTH in
collaboration with Vision Care and South Korean Community in Nigeria provided
free cataract surgeries for 120 Lagosians and treated 250 outpatients between
November 9 and 13, 2015 with 100 percent success rate, while under the
blindness prevention programme, a total of 7, 250 patients with varying
ophthalmic conditions were screened at 29 different community screening venues
out of which 4, 867 representing 67.1 percent were given free glasses.
The Commissioner said apart from the fact that
LASUTH won several international awards of excellence in the period under review,
the Departments of Internal Medicine, ENT, Psychiatry and Pediatrics were
granted accreditations by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria,
while the first female Oncologist in Nigeria, Dr. Fatiregun Omolara emanated
from LASUTH.
While reeling out the various completed and
ongoing projects in medical centres across the state, Idris said a new Critical
Care Unit at LASUTH and Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM)
has been practically completed and ready for commissioning, while the contract
for renovation and extension of the Old Ayinke House has been re-awarded with
immediate commencement of work, as well as the Psychiatry Ward.
In the secondary health care, the Commissioner
said projects already completed included the purchase of 26 Ambulances for
General Hospitals and LASUTH, procurement and installation of 26 Mobile Toshiba
X-ray machines, construction and equipping of Accident and Emergency Centre in
Ikorodu General Hospital, construction of Sewage Treatment Plant in Apapa and
Somolu General Hospitals, installation of internet facility at the Health
Service Commission for improved effectiveness and seamless performance of its
activities, while major renovation works are currently ongoing in all the
general hospitals in the state, as well as LASUCOM and School of Nursing
Hostel, Igando.
Under the school health intervention programme,
Idris said 16, 124 pupils in 33 public primary schools in 22 Local Government
Areas and Local Council Development Areas in the State were screened for
medical, dental and ear, nose and throat morbidities, while 11, 327 were
treated.
He also said that 1, 718, 400 milk sachets were
allocated to an average of 56, 297 pupils in 1, 018 schools across the state.
”I want to use this medium to express the profound
gratitude of the Ministry to the inexorable Governor Ambode for providing
excellent leadership qualities towards making the health sector in the state
compare favourably with international standards,” the Commissioner said.
Idris also appreciated contributions of donor
agencies, development and implementing partners, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, PATHS 2,
JICA, FHI/GHAIN, SuNMap, APIN, MSF, ALCO, IHVNEU-PRIME, Measure Evaluation,
HSPF, MDCN, NMA, AGMPMPN, PCN, NANNM, Association of Laboratory Scientists and
health workers across the state.
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