As Nigeria continues to experience massive financial outflows due to medical tourism especially in cardiology, specialists have said that the country has what it takes to prevent sudden cardiac arrest and treat it when it occurs.
The specialists disclosed this during the 6th edition of the Abuja Cardiovascular symposium 2022 with the theme: “The Cardiovascular Disease Pandemic: Prevention and treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest”, organised by the Cardiocare Multispecialty Hospital, a member of Limi Hospital Group, Abuja.
The hospital said that the annual event is an attempt to stem the tide of medical tourism by providing a valuable contribution to the healthcare sector as the symposium engages and teaches healthcare professionals across the globe the skills to identify and respond to the new challenges, notably in cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases.
The group medical director of the Limi Hospital Group, Dr Iseko Iseko, who spoke during the symposium, said a big and smoldering pandemic has been growing and impacting negatively on African communities, “the Cardiovascular disease Pandemic.”
He said besides the occasionally publicised sudden cardiac deaths, it is believed that a lot of cases largely go unrecognised and that most African delivery systems are reportedly both exposed and ill-prepared for this rising behemoth.
“To be able to adapt and respond to these new challenges, notably in cardiovascular and other non-communicable diseases, healthcare delivery systems must further develop human resource empowerment with practical tools and information to excel,” he added.
In his remarks, the medical director, Cardiocare Hospital Abuja, Dr. Oyindamola Awofisoye, noted that the symposium is a yearly commitment made by Cardiocare poised to improve the outcome of patients presenting with cardiovascular diseases either in emergency or outpatient settings and these trainings have gone a long way in equipping healthcare practitioners with skills in identifying, diagnosing, and management of cardiovascular diseases and therefore making more valuable contribution to quality patient care and improved medical practice.
A cardiologist at the Cardiocare Hospital Abuja, Dr. Olalekan Olaleye, stated that the hospital and her subsidiaries, of which Cardiocare is a flagship, is a multispecialty referral and tertiary healthcare centre dedicated to proffer world-class training and service solutions to national medical issues especially in cardiovascular medicine.
“In line with the passion to curb medical tourism through lifelong partnerships and continuous medical training, every doctor and hospital working in Nigeria deserves to have all the support to offer the best to their patients in a world-class approach right here in Nigeria,” he said.
