LASUTH records first successful bone bridge surgery in West Africa

In order to meet the demand of current health challenges in the state and provide quality health services, the Lagos State Government will embark on renovation of its primary healthcare facilities.

The Commissioner of Health, Jide Idris, said on Tuesday, while giving an account of the State’s activities in the health sector in the last one year, said the planned renovation would also ensure that the secondary healthcare facilities in the State were decongested.

Idris noted that the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), during the year under review, carried out the first successful bone bridge surgery in West Africa as well as successful cochlear implant surgeries on three deaf patients without the support of foreign doctors.

Further, Idris said that with the renovation, patients that could be appropriately managed at lower levels of care would not need to go to the tertiary health facility.

“We are not unaware of the state of our severely overstretched secondary care facilities.

“We are currently doing assessment of all those facilities, especially at the primary and secondary levels, and the renovation process will be done in phases for repairs,” Idris said.

He said that the burden on the state’s hospitals, especially the Mother and Child Centres (MCCs), was huge with patients coming in from neighbouring states to access services.

While reeling out the various completed and ongoing projects in medical centres across the state, Idris said a new Critical Care Unit at LASUTH and Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) was ready for commissioning, while the contract for renovation and extension of the Old Ayinke House has been re-awarded with immediate commencement of work.

In the secondary health care, the Commissioner said projects already completed included the purchase of 26 Ambulances for General Hospitals and LASUTH, procurement and installation of 26 Mobile Toshiba X-ray machines, construction and equipping of Accident and Emergency Centre in Ikorodu General Hospital, construction of sewage treatment plant in Apapa and Somolu general hospitals, installation of internet facility at the Health Service Commission for improved effectiveness and seamless performance of its activities, while major renovation works are currently ongoing in all the general hospitals in the state, as well as LASUCOM and School of Nursing Hostel, Igando.

Under the school health intervention programme, Idris said 16, 124 pupils in 33 public primary schools in 22 Local Government Areas and Local Council Development Areas in the State were screened for medical, dental and ear, nose and throat morbidities, while 11, 327 were treated.

He also said that 1, 718, 400 milk sachets were allocated to an average of 56, 297 pupils in 1, 018 schools across the state.