DELSUTH: Delta’s Great Gift

Patients have been receiving life-saving transplants of vital organs for several years, but not in Delta State. Recently, the first kidney transplant in the state was successfully performed at the state teaching hospital, write Godwin Haruna and Victor Efeizomor

Pius Ukuoma, 32, has been diagnosed of renal failure, but he has no money for the treatment. Ukuoma could barely survive on his paltry wages. Most people in his condition often travel miles from Nigeria to India to get treatment. “Kidney failure is like a death sentence for many Nigerians who can’t afford the treatment,” said Akanimo Samuel, a medical doctor. “It has become rampant in the country with little help for the sufferers.”

Those who travel to India according to Samuel spend up to N8million to get treatment in the Asian country. 

“I can tell you that this sickness that has impacted negatively on our people is helping the revenue of India as Nigerians flood that country seeking out solutions. Nigerians who had been there have returned to say that they pay between N6 million and N8 million for kidney transplant,” Samuel said.

But now, the story has changed in Delta State. The Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, on a recent Monday carried out its first kidney transplant with Surgeons and Nephrologists from the hospital collaborating with a medical team from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in the United States of America to operate on both the donors and recipients.
 

The Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan who witnessed the first successful kidney transplant in the state and was actually part of it, said that the exercise was aimed at reducing health tourism among Nigerians.
 

“Kidney cases are becoming very rampant and a lot of Nigerians go outside Nigeria for treatment for such cases. The significance of what we are doing here is that it makes it cheaper for the patients. Averagely, from what I have discussed with the managing director of the hospital, it will cost about 1.5 to 2 million Naira for the full treatment.
 

“We know that going outside, India, which is the cheapest, will cost up to N6 to 8 million. So if we are able to hit it at 2 million Naira it will be cheaper for our patients.”
In the collaboration exercise that lasted for about two and a half hours, a 23 year-old patient received a kidney donated by his mother.
 

Uduaghan, who practised as a medical doctor before joining politics was part of the team that successfully performed the surgery for a kidney transplant at DELSUTH. His government had facilitated a five-year partnership between the hospital and University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Centre based in Dallas, United States of America to build infrastructure and human capacity.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Texas was to develop a centre of excellence for kidney transplant and other related diseases in Delta State.

Uduaghan had explained last year that it was part of the state’s larger policy of boosting medical tourism as well as enhancing the internally generated revenue base of the state. He said that the overall objective was to make the facilities for nephrology and kidney transplant available and at a cheaper rate for the people.

Hence, Uduaghan led a delegation of the state officials to Texas for the MOU to be consummated so as to establish a partnership that promotes joint initiatives in the fields of nephrology and kidney transplantation between the parties.

At the Government House, Asaba, after their arrival, the governor specifically explained that agreement includes improvement of the dialysis centre, the laboratory, radiology and theatre departments in DELSUTH.

The governor hinted then that it would take between 14 and 16 months to set up internationally accepted standard fields of Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation in DELSUTH. But he vowed that in the next 10 months the state would boost the infrastructure as well as the capacity of the personnel and equipment at DELSUTH to meet the required standards.

As part of the deal, he said the personnel at the hospital would be sent to UTSMC for specialisation and refresher courses on the new facilities for efficient service delivery.

The Chief Medical Director of DELSUTH, Dr Leslie Akporiaye said the kidney transplant is an innovation in the hospital, while disclosing that the operation lasted just for a few hours.
 

"A lot of preparation had gone into it with the provision of necessary facilities, training and observation in Dallas and here in Oghara by staff of DELSUTH with the state governor in attendance, ’'  Akporiaye said.
 

The CMD said activities at the hospital rest on a tripod of service, training and research. He added that the focus would provide a template for the acquisition of skills while the people continues to enjoy the best of treatment with cutting edge technological equipment assembled at the hospital. He disclosed that with their focus on kidney and nephrology as core areas of specialisation, the teaching hospital is geared towards making a difference in health care delivery in the country.
 

Akporiaye added that with a chief executive of the state that has the political will to deliver quality health care to the people of the state, the experts at DELSUTH working in collaboration with their colleagues from the United States are well positioned to curtail medical tourism in the country. He added that the centre enjoys referrals from both within and outside the state. The CMD stated that fees paid by the patients who are indigenes was highly subsidised while others from elsewhere in the country pay very modest fees.
 

Also, Prof. Iwegbu, an international consultant surgeon in orthopaedics said the operation was made possible by the state governor’s wise decision of contracting practising medical doctors in the Diaspora of which he is one. He praised Uduaghan for his government’s giant strides in health care provision in the state.

To be sure, Uduaghan has received a lot of accolades following the accomplishment of his many medical feats in the state.  For instance, the Oba of Benin, Omo N' Oba N' Edo Uku Akpolokpolo has commended Uduaghan on the   successful kidney transplant carried out by DELSUTH saying the governor has never left anyone in doubt of his commitment to promoting good health in the state.
 

On his part, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joseph Otumara, while speaking on the development, said that the success of the surgery signalled the advent of more complex operations to be undertaken at the hospital in due course. “The feat will ultimately make DELSUTH a centre for medical excellence and tourism in Nigeria. That is what medical tourism is all about and DELSUTH is leading the way.”
 

Also, the Senior Special Assistant on Communication to the governor, Mr. Paul Odili,  noted that the first surgery recorded at the hospital demonstrated the governor’s visionary leadership and unique approach to health care delivery in the country.
 

He said: “The Oghara teaching hospital surgery underscores the wisdom of the administration to have this institution set up from the inception of the last administration. The beauty of what has happened is the determination of the Uduaghan administration to continue to fund this hospital to attract the best hands and equip it with modern hospital facility you can find anywhere else.
 

“Nigerians who love to travel to India or Western Europe and America, should realise that DELSUTH offers the same quality health care they can find abroad. So instead of spending so much abroad, using Oghara teaching hospital saves you money for the same quality.”
 

Odili added further: “The state is one of the places where pregnant women enjoy comprehensive free health care coverage and free delivery, including free caesarean section. In addition, every new born baby enjoys free medical care until five years of age. This is unprecedented and largely explains why Delta State by far has the lowest maternal death rate.”

It is on record that, when the Uduaghan administration came into office on May 29, 2007, the death rate per 1,000 births was over 500. However, by 2013, the figure had dropped to about 250 deaths per 1,000 births, giving Delta State by far the best record in the country. The governor has since then set the pace that has encouraged wealthy Nigerians to reduce medical tourism abroad.
 

Two years ago, the state government started subsidising dialysis of kidney patients in DELSUTH and progressively brought the cost down from N20,000 to N5,000 which has become a great gift the Deltans.
 

Speaking shortly after the kidney surgery was done, Uduaghan expressed satisfaction that the transplant was a success, stating that it was another medical breakthrough for the state’s hospital and Nigeria at large.
 

He said: “This is a happy day for me as we are able to provide this service. I know we were well prepared for this surgery and we also have a good post-surgery team.
 

“The hospital is overflowing with patients, so we are planning to expand bed facilities by putting up a 300-bed ward for this hospital,” he added.
 

In recent times, DELSUTH has been recording medical feats. Only six weeks ago, Orthopaedic experts at the centre accomplished a knee replacement operation on a 74-year-old,  Pa. Thomas Akhalumemo from Edo State,  while another feat was  recorded by the hospital when a hip operation was done on  July, 2012 on a  29-year-old Ete Erueyin.

The highly elated Pa. Akhalumemo recounted how his ordeal started in 1968 during the civil war when he was wounded as a soldier and had been in pains and unable to move freely since then. He said he had been to several places for treatment and placed on medications but to no avail until the affected leg was successfully operated on at DELSUTH.
 

“I want to thank our governor for making this facility available, because I can now walk freely without a walking stick or support from anyone,” he said.
 

Pa. Akhalumeno expressed gratitude to the team of doctors that performed the operation, the management of DELSUTH, Oghara and the Delta State government for investing in a health institution that makes people worry less about getting first-class health care services that was once without the reach of the people.
 

Conducting journalists round the modern equipment and facilities acquired for the teaching hospital recently, Nurse Consultant, Ms Laura Ade stated that few hospitals would compete with the centre in the area of modern equipment carefully assembled there. From the radiology unit, which has the latest laser machines to the Intensive Care Unit, the neo-natal care unit to the paediatrics department, Ade said the centre is not lacking in the area of cutting-edge technology for health care delivery.
 

She added that the beauty of the arrangement is that all the equipment have been acquired with maintenance agreements sealed with the respective manufacturers. “Not only do their agents in Nigeria visit us periodically, they also step down training for our experts and staff. That way, you are rest assured that these equipment will work for the greater good of the people,” Ade stated.
 

Akporiaye added that the state government has made an arrangement in such a way that electricity supply is 24/7. He said with people in the ICU and babies in the incubators in the neo-natal unit, there was no way the facility could function without a steady supply of electricity. With an eye to generate its own electricity in the future, Ade added that the present arrangement for power is sustainable. She stated that the centre was being equipped to attract experts from the Diaspora as well as establish a reputation for medical excellence in the country. And with the array of equipment already assembled at the facility, DELSUTH is not far from the dream.

Quote: I can tell you that this sickness that has impacted negatively on our people is helping the revenue of India as Nigerians flood that country seeking solutions. Nigerians who have been there have returned to say that they pay between N6 million and N8 million for kidney transplant