Laparoscopy: Surgeon wants key-hole surgery accessible, affordable to indigent Nigerians
Prof. Lukman Abdur-Rahman of the Department of Surgery of the University of Ilorin has appealed to all tiers of government to make Laparoscopy, known as keyhole surgery, affordable to indigent Nigerians.
Prof. Abdur-Rahman made the call in his paper presentation at the 22nd Inaugural Lecture of the University, entitled: “Shades of Joy and Cry: Intrigues and Intricacies of Children’s Surgery for Restoring Smile and Hope for the Future”.
He described Laparoscopy as a type of surgical procedure that allows a surgeon to access the inside of the abdomen and pelvis without having to make large incisions on the skin.
According to him, the benefits of this technique have been enjoyed by the elites and NHIS enrollees because of the higher cost which might be catastrophic for families who pay out of pocket.
Abdur-Rahman who teaches in the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences of the University, observed if this surgical procedure is made accessible and affordable to poor families, it will guarantee adequate exposure and training of many colleagues.
He stated that he had propagated the use of the procedure at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) by training colleagues, surgical residents and allied health staffs, among others.
“We have maximised these benefits in our practice in providing diagnostic and therapeutic management of non palpable undescended testes, disorders of sexual differentiations and complicated appendicitis,” he said.
Similarly, the expert on Paediatric Surgery asserts that in Nigeria, the estimated incidence of birth defects varies between 2.5 and 11.5 per 1,000 live births in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
He also stated that Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) is still high at 26.6 per cent, while attributing this factor to lack of access to surgery which includes the significant shortage workforce.
According to him, globally, 1.7 billion children do not have access to safe, affordable and timely surgical care, and sub-Saharan Africa bears the largest burden because up to 50 per cent of the population are children.
The Paediatrician advised the Federal Government to step up paediatric surgical care awareness at the primary health care level, so that the conditions are identified early and appropriate counsel are provided to caregivers.
“All existing children hospital should be upgraded to have complimentary well equipped and staffed Paediatric surgical services at the state and federal levels,” he saidl.
