Experts in the health sector have advocated strategic public private partnership (PPP) to boost healthcare delivery in the country and curb incidence of medical tourism abroad as well as capital flight.
The stakeholders agreed that clear synergy between medical practitioners in the public and private sectors will bridge the yawning gap in healthcare delivery value chain, insisting that adequate roads, constant power supply, enduring security, good water and sanitation systems, among others, would enhance access to quality healthcare services in the country.
The medical professionals from both public and private sectors spoke at a Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Forum to mark 2017 World Spinal Cord Injury Day, with the theme, “Yes We Can”, at Zitadel Medicals and Diagnostics Limited, Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt, last Tuesday.
Consultant Neurosurgeon at Zitadel Medicals and Diagnostics Limited, Abuja, Dr Biodun Ogungbo, said the event was focused on efforts to remove obstacles in the way and ensure that spinal cord injury patients get early treatment, care and support to prevent the chances of deaths from road accidents and other emergencies which trigger spinal cord injuries.
The spine and brain surgeon listed obstacles to include lack of SCI rehabilitation centre, physical and physiotherapy care, reliable statistics for SCI cases, proper management of SCI at accident scenes, poor sensitization and awareness, among others.
He added the global focus was an initiative of the International Spinal Cord Society (ISCoS) aimed at promoting disability inclusion throughout the world, noting that the collaboration between Zitadel Medicals and Diagnostics and other health facilities in the state was to ensure the creation of sufficient awareness on the rights steps to manage and care for SCI victims.
Ogungbo advocated total prevention from spinal cord injuries by ensuring safe driving habits, preventing falls from heights, taking of precautions when playing sports, among others.
Chairman, National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners, Dr Peterside Sofiri canvassed for concerted management of spinal cord injury patients by governments, specialists and caregivers to reduce deaths resulting from road accidents and other death-threatening emergencies.
According to him, “Prevention is better than cure but in fact, where a spinal cord injury is concerned, prevention is cure. We are asking for an enabling environment to ensure we have Indian hospitals in Nigeria by putting basic amenities such good roads, uninterrupted power supply, sustainable peace and security, in place.”
Sofiri, who is also president, Rotary Club of Port Harcourt Down Town, appealed to governments at all levels to provide subsidized equipment to help in the treatment, care and support for SCI patients, saying that “The high spate of medical tourism abroad can be reversed if people in authority do the needful by providing the enabling environment for individuals and organizations to contribute their quota in the healthcare sector”.
Also speaking, Consultant Orthopeadic Surgeon, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Dr Eyimina Phillip enumerated the procedure for identifying and providing emergency treatment to spinal cord injury victims, advising that special care needed to be taken to ensure patients’ situations are managed with care to avoid unnecessary deaths.
He stressed the importance of partnerships between public and private sector practitioners in managing issues in the healthcare system, saying that when medical practitioners in both sectors work together, better healthcare services would be achieved for the benefit of society.
Physiotherapist, Optimal Health Centre, Okafor Chukwuebuka said the awareness campaign was necessary to help bridge rising gap in emergency response time in the healthcare delivery, especially with regard to the needs of spinal cord injury victims, and expressed the hope that the event will facilitate an inclusive platform for persons with disability, accident and gun-shot patients, among others.
Chukwuebuka, who is also a consultant, Zitadel Medicals and Diagnostics in Port Harcourt, further listed initial treatment and stabilization procedures, including physical and occupational therapy and assistive devices for SCI patients as vital elements, adding that the rehabilitation and reintegration phase of victims were critical in sustaining recovery.
In her remarks, Chief Physiotherapist at UPTH, Dr Blessing Nkiruka Jonathan decried the dearth of adequate working tools and equipment at most public hospitals as well as lack of incentives for competent medical personnel, and advocated for unrestrained collaboration between the public health institutions and private health facilities with modern equipment and working environment to ensure better healthcare delivery services in the state.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana