Nigerian Surgeons from U.S. Give Back to Patients in Lagos

Twenty surgeons and medical experts of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) in partnership with First Consultant Hospital, Lagos, have operated on 37 patients free of charge with adequate specialised care.

The team, which included surgical and medical personnel, had experts like ANPA President, Dr. Johnson Adeyanju; Chairman of ANPA Medical Mission Committee, Dr. Cliff Eke; Chairman ANPA Programme Committee, Dr. Ajovi Scott Emakpour; Dr. Nkem Ezeamama; Dr. Olatokunbo Etomi, Charlotte New York (volunteer); Dr. Ibukun Odeyemi (Consultant Surgeon General Hospital, Lagos); Dr. Barbara Onyia (Chair Houston Chapter); among others.

The operations, which were done in First Consultant Hospital along with local surgeons and Dr. Osuoji from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) were successful, with a total of 400 patients attended to, while 37 operations were carried out.

“We are on a medical mission to Nigeria technically for five days. It runs from 21st to 25th April in collaboration with First Consultant Hospital. Also, we are going to create awareness and attend to some cases at Freedom Park while some of our team members will render specialised care at Abuja before we will meet with stakeholders in Nigeria healthcare,” ANPA President, Adeyanju said.

Adeyanju described the experts as a dedicated team of professional doctors that came to perform this medical mission in collaboration with the surgical team. “Our surgical team saw some cases we are very proud of,” he said.

Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris, lauded the association, saying “these are Nigerians who have been out of the country for quite a long time and needed to give back to the country which trained them. In this time where we want Nigerians in diaspora to join hands with us to raise the standard of living, we decided to form a kind of partnership with them as a state.

“So, the Dinner/Reunion is a way of welcoming them back home and making them feel acceptable. We recognise their efforts because a lot of them are old friends, it is also like a reunion.”

Accordingly, the host and brother to one of the medical doctors on mission, Mr. George Etomi described the mission as a very necessary one. “It is very important. In this mission, these experts look at the patients and render quality care,” he said.