Health professionals from across the globe have lamented the high rate of brain and spinal disorders on the African continent, stressing with regret that the inability to address decisively the malaise had led to disabilities, innumerable job losses and deaths.
Specifically, they charged the Nigerian government to rise up and meet the challenge with proper, modern and affordable interventions, bemoaning that non-communicable diseases, of which class the disorders fall under, account for no less than 70% of mortality in the world which Africa carries the heavier burden.
The two-day event that took place in Lagos with the theme: ‘New Horizons in Brain and Spinal Disorders’ was powered by Genesis Specialist Hospital and Lagos Neurosurgery Course.
Welcoming guests, Dr Roger Olade, CEO of Genesis Hospital, regretted that the lack of intervention had helped spike the unhealthy rush abroad for treatment at incompetent hospitals.
”A lot of Nigerian patients get botched up in India and return here for revisions, nearly half-dead after they have collected all their money. Not that India don’t have good hospitals; but it’s a very big country and people just show up unannounced and go to not very good hospitals.”
Olade, who also revealed his passion to organize free treatment for children with hunchback (Kyphosis), stated that the aim of the seminar was not just to show latest trends about brain and spinal disorders, but also expose their colleagues, general public to trainings, and show what can be done here in Nigeria especially by Genesis Hospital, thus helping to check medical tourism and building individual and national economies.
Professor Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, a world-acclaimed orthopaedic and spinal Surgeon, with medical centre in Ghana whIle speaking on complex spinal deformities, reiterated that diseases don’t discriminate between poor or rich, claiming it is so severe here due to lack of human resources, expertise, equipment, infrastructure, facilities and high cost.
In his view, patients need to seek Medicare early for proper diagnosis and intervention, even as he said government needs to address the ugly malaise with right executable policies amid screening programmes even in schools, workplace environment rewards, economies, good physical therapy and physical education.
For, Dr Gbadebo Adebayo, an intervention pain management specialist and Co-Director at Genesis Hospital, resolving the problem lies in the provision of durable engagements and high-end treatments.
He however stated what Genesis was doing in that regard.
”We provide different range of intervention ranging from enhanced physical therapy programmes, supported by intervention modalities, with x-ray guided procedures,” he said, adding that safe, right treatment, by well-trained personnel at reasonable prices which are critical to the issue are available in the country at Genesis Hospital.