African Medical Centre of Excellence Achieves Open-Heart Surgery Breakthrough
The African Medical Centre of Excellence located in Abuja, Nigeria, has performed its first open-heart surgery and provided a revolutionary cancer treatment, which are the steps for advanced medicine in Africa. The hospital, which was built by the African Export-Import Bank in cooperation with King’s College Hospital London, reported these events only six months after its inauguration.
The complicated open-heart surgery that was performed was a triple coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), a surgery that helps provide blood flow to the heart in patients with severe cardiac disease. The successful performance of this procedure has positioned the centre among a few other institutions in Africa that can offer complete cardiac care.
This also means that patients from Nigeria or neighboring countries will no more be required to seek critical heart surgeries abroad, which has been a major hindrance for a long time faced by those seeking high-level clinical services.
Besides the heart surgery, the center performed West Africa’s first stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for lung cancer. This therapy, a breakthrough in the treating of tumors with non-invasive precision radiation, is the most advanced of its kind.
A combination of high-tech imaging and motion tracking allows the delivery of radiation to the tumor while at the same time protecting the surrounding healthy tissue. The patient in the successful SBRT case was an elderly gentleman with a localized lung tumor, and through this case, the region’s oncology care was vastly advanced.
The hospital management was of the opinion that these achievements were very significant and that the entire healthcare landscape in West Africa was very positively impacted since they could now complex treatments locally.
Up to the recent past, patients had no option but to bear the burden of high expense and long waits while traveling overseas for similar operations. The center’s achievements are meant to counteract the “medical tourism” trend amidst which the continent loses billions in economic opportunities and families face hardships.
The managers at the hospital took the progress to reflect the commitment and co-operation of the different professional medical staff. The doctors trained there believe that world-class treatment is available in Africa now, they are building the skill and the trust of the local practitioners and thus enhancing career opportunities in the region.
The triumph of the African Medical Centre of Excellence is an indication of the enlarged capacity for the treatment of the complex cases and may investment in the healthcare infrastructure throughout Africa. The center by giving advanced treatments at home not only supports the successful health outcome but also strengthens the people’s trust in their country’s medical competence.