Experts have called for the establishment of School of Dentistry at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) to address the challenges of craniofacial disease management in the country.
They highlight the importance of specialised care for individuals with facial deformities, emphasising the need for an institution that can produce more maxillofacial surgeons to effectively manage these conditions.
The executive director, Cleft & Facial Deformity Foundation (CFDF), Dr Seidu Bello, made the call at the opening ceremony of the ‘team 27’ free cleft and facial deformity surgery program held at UniAbuja Teaching Hospital on Tuesday.
He saidn”There is an urgent need to establish School of Dentistry at the University of Abuja. This is presently lacking despite the rapid expansion of the school and other branches of medical sciences.”
He stated that establishing the School of Dentistry will not only address the shortage of maxillofacial surgeons but also reinforce postgraduate training programs, ensuring that we have a competent workforce to tackle craniofacial diseases.
Bello decried the scarcity of maxillofacial specialists, stating that “effective management of facial diseases requires continuos production of maxillofacial surgeons which is a specialty of dentistry and which are in short supply nationwide, with a little less than 200 specialists in Nigeria”
He also stated that “The present 27th edition has witnessed a massive turnout of patients with different kind of facial deformities from different states. As at today, 44 patients have registered. We have operated on 13 while surgery continues for one week with a target of 50 patients.”
“It is obvious that we cannot attend to everybody which is a wakeup call to the reality that the facial deformities are not rare”
According to him, the CFDF, an NGO dedicated to tackling facial deformities in Nigeria, has been at the forefront of raising awareness and providing free surgical interventions to less privileged individuals, with over 5000 beneficiaries.
He stated that one significant experience is the drastic reduction of adult cleft in the country.
“In the first 4 programs, adult cleft was predominant with an average of 14.2 years. However most of our cleft patients now are babies, bringing us at par with the rest of the world where cleft surgery is essentially for the children.”
“While we have made significant progress, the establishment of a School of Dentistry at UATH would greatly strengthen our efforts. It would enable us to train a new generation of healthcare professionals and improve access to quality care for those affected by craniofacial diseases,” Bello emphasised.
Speaking on the significance of the programme, CMD, UATH, Prof.Bissallah Ekele, said “the significance lies in the fact that happiness has been brought to the faces of those who have been made unhappy because of facial deformity. And to be told that it was done free, that message obvious.”
He also added that cases of cleft and facial deformity are common in the facility.
On his part, the CEO, TY Danjuma foundation, Gima Forje, a major sponsor of the programme said “we support free medical at churches in Nigeria so that people who are in poor communities can have access to quality healthcare and to do that, we have to work with qualified and tested partners. That is why we support organisations like CFDF, to bring services to those who are in need. You know without such outreaches, you will not be able to get people with facial deformity to those come to the hospital to access services.”
“Another reason is that the surgeries are quite expensive and complex and alot of the patients are unable to afford the resources.”
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