A NEW DAWN IN HEALTHCARE

Redeemer’s Health Village medical feat is commendable

In a remarkable medical feat, a cancerous kidney tumor was recently removed from a patient’s body in Abuja while the doctor worked remotely 500 kilometres away at Mowe, in Ogun State. Spearheaded by Redeemer’s Health Village (of the Pastor EA Adeboye-led RCCG ‘Redemption City’) the doctor, Professor Obi Davies-Ekwenna, controlled a surgical robot to carry out the operation in Abuja. Known as tele-robotic surgery, it came through Redeemer’s Hospital collaborative effort with RoboMed Global and Nisa Premier Hospital, the first of its kind in West Africa.

The Chief Executive Officer of Redeemer’s Health Village, Dr Adedamola Dada, stated that the operation included safeguards, with a medical team physically present with the patient in Abuja and prepared to intervene in case of complication. “We were able to operate on a patient with a cancer tumour,” said the robotic surgeon Dr. Ekwenna. “Telesurgery can be done from any part of the world with precision, with excellent results.” Alexander Idachama, the first patient to undergo robotic-assisted surgery at RHV for a radical prostatectomy, expressed delight at the outcome of the operation, with significantly less pain.

We congratulate Redeemer’s Health Village Hospital on this significant milestone. In a country often overwhelmed by healthcare challenges, Redeemer’s sophisticated landmark is an inspiration. It is yet another proof that we have what it takes to stand and compete with the best in any part of the world when provided with the right incentives.  

Indeed, over the years, the country has recorded many historical medical achievements. As far back as 1974, for instance, the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) through its clinical arm, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) performed Africa’s first open-heart surgery. Since then, it has carried out hundreds of other routine heart surgeries through local leadership and collaborative missions. Besides, many other institutions, including privately-run outfits, have also performed other complex medical feats ranging from neurosurgery to separation of conjoined twins.

Unfortunately, these could not be sustained due to inadequate attention. Many of our hospitals suffer from infrastructure decay, erratic power supply, and poor working conditions. Many of the government teaching hospitals operate with shoe-string budgets. Successive budgets for health in the country have consistently fallen short of the 15 per cent Abuja Declaration target agreed upon by African nations. Only recently, the Health Ministry disclosed that the total money released to it for capital projects in 2025 was a mere N36 million, money perhaps insufficient for a department’s logistics.

The breakdown of vital tools, in addition to low wages, has led to mass migration of health workers abroad in a phenomenon called the ‘Japa’ syndrome. At the last count, more than 50,000 Nigerian-trained doctors, many of them specialists, practice abroad. Expectedly, the medical brain drain, exacerbated by poor equipment, has triggered medical tourism involving Nigerians seeking treatment abroad for cancer, kidney failure, heart diseases and related ailments. According to the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, the country spends about $2 billion on medical tourism annually, a heavy financial drain on the economy. Ironically, many of specialists they meet abroad are Nigerians who left because of the poor working conditions at home.

This is why we are heartened by the increasing investment in the domestic health ecosystems. Dr Adedamola Dada said the health facility in Ogun has acquired multiple robotic systems and is launching a Robotic Academy to train Nigerian medical professionals. The purpose is to slash the cost of medical tourism by offering quality services locally. “We just don’t want it to happen only once,” he said. “We want it to become a routine.” In the last few years, private initiatives and state-level projects across the country are also striving to provide the best health facilities locally, many of which are already attracting patients from the diaspora because of affordability.

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