…UPTH becomes West Africa’s leading cardiovascular treatment centre
…N2bn Cathlab soon to spring up in UPTH as Rivers govt shows interest
Heart patients may find succur in the University of Port Harcourt (UPTH) where advanced facilities and expertise have found space together with the visit of some cardiologists and machine experts from the United Kingdom (UK).
The experts have teamed up with the team in the UPTH led by Emmanuel Edafe, cardiovascular interventionist, to set up a pace-making unit that inserts a pacemaker in the skin to help an ailing heart.
The team from the UK is led by Neil Grubb, a Cardiac Electrophysiologist, assisted by Jagdeep Singh, Cardiologist/Cardiac Device Implanter who have been teaching others on how to create an advanced pacemaker unit in Port Harcourt.
Meanwhile, indications are rife that a Cathlab (Cardiac catheterization lab) may soon be built in the UPTH with the support of the Rivers State government.
A Cathlab is a centre trusted for comprehensive procedures for cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, diabetes, dialysis, heart attack, pacemakers, angiography and other cathlab procedures.
It is a centre with a sensitive unit of an examination room in hospitals where doctors perform minimally invasive tests and procedures to diagnose and treat cardiovascular diseases. These procedures almost always involve tiny, flexible tubes called catheters, which can be used instead of surgery, to access the heart and blood vessels, according to experts at the January edition of the UPTH Ground Round which features one special medical challenge per month. January edition featured Cardiovascular challenge and breakthroughs in the centre of excellence.
Grubb who took hours to teach what they do with pacemakers in the UK explained later in an interview why his team was in Port Harcourt, saying the healthcare delivery in Nigeria is not where it should be, though there are pockets of expertise in the country.
He said many are dyeing from what can be treated, and mentioned pacing as one of the heart savers invented in recent times. He said it helps in cases of slow heartbeat. “The victim is tired all the time. You feel terrible, you have no energy because not enough blood is circulating in your system. You feel dizzy and on severe cases, you black out and may injure yourself.”
Grubb, the heart specialist from Scotland in the UK is part of the team from the Cardiovascular Education Foundation. “We are primarily here to conduct training for doctors and nurses in cardiac techniques.”
Giving a background, Grubb said in Nigeria, people are believed to not have currently as developed healthcare system as ideally is needed.
“Admittedly, there are pockets of expertise in the country (Nigeria) but in most cases, patients are denied treatment just because of lack of results. Many patients are completely unable to afford any form of medical treatment. We know some people are dying of conditions that could be easily treated.
“Patients in Nigeria may not have access to healthcare for conditions that may not threaten their lives but may affect the quality of their lives. I will tell you about two treatments we have been doing. Pacing is treatment for people that have abnormal slow heartbeat. People are dying unnecessarily because of easily treated conditions connected to the heart.
Read also: UPTH: How medical directors throw in salaries to save emergencies
“So, Pacing is a technique we use to plant an electronic device under the skin of a patient connected to the heart through wires. They have to be guided through using electronic camera. Special training is required to plant these devices which are very costly.”
He said there is waste by using it once where he said it can be reused. “So, we thus use some of the devices that cannot be reused in the UK instead of throwing them away and wasting them. They can be used to the benefit of people in Nigeria.
“Our mission is not primarily to treat patients though we enjoy it (the 20 we treated this week will no doubt benefit from the mission) but the main thing is leaving a lasting legacy in Nigeria by spending more time teaching as we are doing the procedures.
“We have a range of doctors such as Dr Edafe Emmanuel and other junior cardiologists and cardio-physiologists with members of staff that programme the pacing devices and monitor the patients. We are training a generation of physiologists and cardiologists through these machines in Nigeria and we hope these they make it safe to do these procedures. We hope these machines are anchored three or four times per year through rotations to continue with the training of individuals here (UPTH) in Nigeria.”
He admitted money is part of the needs that appear to be the difficult aspect but he said they would do the teaching if they cannot solve Nigeria’s financial and political problems.
On funding of his mission, Grubb mentioned two sources, saying some of them were on volunteer mission without pay. He mentioned cardiovascular education group from the US who he said offset the administrative cost.
A major revelation was what he called single use machines and devices in the UK which he said have been found still very reusable outside Europe. “They are perfectly useful. We sterilize them and use them. Cost is minimal. No risk.”
On any concerns, he admitted that there could be such concerns as infections after the UK team may have gone and possible malfunctioning of devices. “There has been study about these and we prepared for them. If these patients do not get any help at all, they die. We conducted clinical trials that show that these are safe as the ones we plant in the UK. We cannot come here to put your populace at risk. We know without these devices they will be dead in six months.”
He said Edafe and his team know how to give follow up services and that battery check every year can be done with remote control system.
After listening to the experts at the hall, one of the senior professors who said he is now 50 years in practice called for support to set up a Cathlab in the UPTH. Experts put the cost at N2bn.
Responding during an intervention, Vincent Nwachukwu, Director of Medical Services, Rivers State Ministry of Health, who said he was tapped from the UPTH, said the heart is the life of any human, and gave hints the Sim Fubara administration may give an ear to the appeal.
Thanking the UK team for giving free support worth millions of naira, he said the Rivers State government may intervene if the case is properly made to the government. He said the Ministry would evaluate the case and probably make a case to the state executive council.
Speaking, Datonye Alasia, chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) of the UPTH, told newsmen the Pacemaker project was part of Strategy Plan to grow specialist services in the UPTH. “Collaboration is key in the strategy, and PPP is the way to drive it. We look for where the support can come from. We are driving skills set. Next year the scheme will be bigger.
“We are bent on creating a specialist hub. The cost of these specialist services is high but we work hard to beat it down. The minimum anyone can get pacing is $20,000. We started this pioneering work in 2018 with grants and some 77 patients in West Africa. Now, most of the mission work is on the scheme in UPTH.”
He hailed the success of the project and said the team had it in 2024, now again in 2025. “Training is a key benefit of this scheme. We have medical experts who came from around Nigeria. This is creating a form of medical tourism because people come from around Nigeria to attend to what we do here. Some 22 patients are in this scheme and it costs about $20,000 or N10m.”
Take-home:
The take-home from the January Hospital Ground Round is that there is; “Now, there is hope in the UPTH for cardiac problems, and you may be lucky to get this with low budget due to chances of free pacing. If we get more, we give to more needy persons,” said Alasia, the UPTH CMAC.
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