2 months ago
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The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital in Cross River State has significantly enhanced its clinical services and patient care by introducing advanced endoscopic procedures.
This development marks UCTH as the second government-owned facility in Nigeria to implement such advanced technology.
The Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Asanwe Ikpeme, revealed that the hospital has partnered with Massachusetts General Hospital to advance endoscopic practices in Cross River State and Nigeria at large.
This collaboration aims to bring cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment techniques to the region.
The CMD said,“Before this time, if somebody had pancreatic cancer and needed to do a biopsy, we would need to give them a big incision in the abdomen to go see the pancreas and then do the biopsy. But with what we have now, we introduce a camera mounted on a fibre optic cable and looking at the video screen, we get to the specific area, do the needed biopsy, administer the treatment and the person is fine. “It involved the introduction of Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography and Endoscopic Ultrasound. The advantage of this is that it would improve diagnosis of hepatopancreatic biliary diseases, and when that happens, the chances for better treatment are also improved.”
Ikpeme said though UCTH had a basic endoscopy programme ongoing for years, the management thought it was time to upscale it and introduce advanced endoscopy.
“So, we collaborated with the Massachusetts General Hospital to advance endoscopic practice in our locality.
“We are the second federal institution doing this. The only other federal institution is the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital. “Our collaboration is actually with Massachusetts General Hospital with a lot of support from OAU Teaching Hospital,” the CMD stressed.
Ikpeme explained the details of the partnership and the commitment of the hospital to provide affordable healthcare, drive medical tourism and achieve access to quality healthcare services for people. He said the hospital had trained its staff in the United States and India, as well as procured the equipment for the advanced endoscopic procedure. “We have also successfully completed a one-week training programme for our staff here in Calabar, with the support of our partners. “The training was hands-on on models and live patients led by our staff. We are building capacity, we are building expertise because we want it to survive and be sustainable long after the three-year Memorandum of Understanding comes to an end. “We have successfully treated eight patients free of charge, who were supposed to travel outside Nigeria for the same treatment,” he said. Speaking further on the benefits of new cutting-edge treatment, the CMD said, “The advanced medical treatment in this speciality is being brought nearer home, nearer to the common man.
“This means improved accessibility because it would be more affordable, improve diagnostics, improve treatment and improve outcomes for Nigeria and Africa generally. So it is a win-win for everybody.”
