Healthcare: Ex-Oyo South Senator Balogun Harps On Synergy Among Gov’t, Practitioners, Partners

A one-time Senator, who represented Oyo South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Kola Balogun, has identified synergy among all tiers of government, healthcare providers and partners, as imperative to sustain quality healthcare delivery to Nigerians.

He called on all stakeholders in the health sector to redouble their efforts, saying the present economic challenges posed a serious threat to the investment in infrastructure in the sector.

Speaking at the official launch of Actigraft, the first wound care product that enables healthcare providers to produce in real-time invitro blood clots from a patient’s blood to the site of the chronic wound to initiate and support the body’s natural healing process, in Abuja on Wednesday, Sen. Balogun said the government was poised at addressing the shortage of manpower needs and the issue of disunity among practitioners.

Sen. Balogun, therefore, called on the Federal, State and Local Governments to continue to be by the side of the people, adding that quality healthcare delivery remains utmost in government’s priorities.

“Federal government is doing its best, the State and local governments must not relent in prioritising infrastructure investment in the health sector. We should not also look away from the public, private partnerships, which I believe will go a long way to address our present challenges,” Sen. Balogun stated.

In his address, the Chief Medical Officer, Lone Star Global Consult Ltd, Dr. David Obasi Ukoha, pointed out the reason for partnering Grant In International from Israel and IES Medical NG Ltd, to add Actigraft into Nigeria’s medical advancement, citing that the innovation will significantly reduce the lead time, risk, cost, and resources required in efficacious therapies in the healing process of chronic and hard-to-heal wounds.

According to him, “It has been a great challenge for healthcare providers treating patients with chronic wounds that fail to heal, or heal slowly, there has been an underlying factors that impedes local blood flow to the wound site and hinders the body’s natural wound healing processes.

“These types of wounds may never heal, or take years to heal, causing patients severe emotional and physical stress and creating a significant financial burden on patients and the whole healthcare system and in addition could eventually lead to wound infection, necrosis & finally – limps amputation. Patients suffering from chronic wounds experience severe damage to their health and wellness with severe pain, low self-esteem and severe impairment of quality of life. With ACTIGRAFT on our shelves, lasting solution is here,” Ukoha said.

During his presentation, the Managing Director, IES Medical NG Limited, Mr. Eitan Kariv, opined that it required a concerted effort to develop new faster healing agents, especially as an effective compound for hard-to-heal wounds, adding that Nigerians now have all it takes to stop medical tourism in this regards and get treated even right at the comfort of their homes.

He said with Actigraft, the duration of treatment reduces and in days or weeks, chronic wounds and hard-to-heal wounds will disappear comfortably with lesser pains.