An Abuja-based hospital, Nisa Premier, has performed the first kidney transplant in the Federal Capital Territory.
The board chairman of the hospital, Ibrahim Wada, confirmed this to newsmen at the weekend.
“I am here to confirm a major medical feat. For the first time on the soil of Abuja, we brought together a home and a diaspora team and achieved seamless kidney transplantation. I can confirm that both the donor and the recipient are doing very well”, Wada said.
Wada, while decrying that kidney diseases are on the rise in this country called on the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for foreign partnership and collaboration, so that Nigerians would not have to travel overseas for medical care.
He noted that partnering with other healthcare sectors overseas would reduce the cost of medicare for Nigerians and also boost the nation’s economy
“There is a lot of diseases springing up, and the end solution for kidney diseases is kidney transplantation. Nobody can do for us as Nigerians unless we create the environment to allow experts to do the job they can do,” Wada stressed.
A urologist/transplant surgeon Obi Ekwenna, noted that Nigeria has a good environment and skilled personnel. He called for collaboration to make healthcare accessible to all citizens.
Also speaking, one of the doctors from the diaspora team, Mary Brown announced plans to collaborate with Nigerians on kidney transplantation.
She said the collaboration would focus on training, education and prevention.
She said: “We want to focus on education, prevention and training.
Although Nigerian doctors are equipped with education, we also want to bring our education to them, to achieve world-class kidney transplantation.”
The transplantation was carried out by Ekwenna, a Transplant and Urologist Surgeon and a Nigerian-American, a Master Public Health Specialist and Registered Nurse Mary Brown, from the United States of
America, and Lemah Mabasu Urologist Surgeon from NISA Hospital, Abuja.
