Expert Dismisses Nigerians’ Perception Of Brain Surgery

Nigerians have a wrong perception that nothing good comes out of the country, hence the refusal to have their brain surgeries done locally.

Dr Mahmud Raji, a Neurosurgeon at the National Hospital Abuja, made the observation in an interview with newsmen in Abuja last Tuesday.

He said a brain surgery was aimed at detecting and rectifying abnormalities in the brain, peripheral nerves or the spinal cord which could be as a result of tumours or trauma from accidents.

Raji also explained that infections and inflammations, which could be viral or bacterial in nature, could affect the brain.

‘The problem is the perception that nothing good comes out of Nigeria, which I think is a very erroneous perception. We have done a number of brain and spinal cord surgeries here in Nigeria.

“In Nigeria, there has been a large percentage of successful surgeries, I would say 90 per cent. Nigerians need to address this perception issue,” he said.

According to the neurosurgeon, there are other reasons for such perception, varying from status symbol which makes people believe that “if they have not travelled outside of the country for treatment, they have not reached the social ladder of an elite”.

Raji noted that in most cases, patients who were treated foreign ountries such as India and Egypt often developed complications, only to be referred to Nigerian hospitals for further treatment.

“Also is the issue of long waiting list because there are few neurosurgeons in Nigeria, probably about 30; that’s if I have not over-quantified it to treat a population of about 150 million people.

“You realise that the pressure is so much. As of now that I am talking to you, I have close to 100 patients in my waiting list, so people have to wait for others before they get attended to. It can be a big issue.”

He listed other reasons to include the issue of economic gains accruing to the patient and the culture of poor service delivery in the country, calling on the three tiers of government to strive to improve health care delivery.

The surgeon said  Nigerians often failed to realise that most neurosurgeons trained abroad but decided to give back to the society by coming back to practise in Nigeria.

He said the country had four centres for the training of neurosurgeons but noted that with support from the World Federation of Neurosurgeons, more young surgeons could be produced to increase the number of available professionals.