The University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo State, has advocated for the deployment of technology and innovation to transform and revolutionise the Nigerian healthcare landscape as well.
While speaking at the opening of the second Faculty of Clinical Sciences Conference of the institution, a US-trained, double-board-certified diagnostic and vascular/interventional radiologist and founder of IRDOCNIGERIA, Dr Hammed Ninalowo, revealed how his team has successfully provided advanced interventional radiology care to patients across Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa.
With the conference bringing together leading medical experts, policymakers, and academics at the institution’s Oladipo Akinkugbe Hall on its Laje Campus, Ninalowo, who delivered the keynote address, spoke on the theme ‘Transforming Medical Care in Nigeria through Technology and Innovation’.
According to him, technology transfer and intensive upskilling have enabled his team to achieve numerous medical firsts while deliberately localising global expertise. He added that by training and utilising a local team to perform complex operations, capital flight can be limited, keeping expertise and revenue within the country.
He said: “In the last 24 months, we have treated 29 ions in about 27 patients. 23 out of the 27 of these patients are fully recovered. If you look at the local surgical data, where the mortality rate is about 47 per cent, we are doing much better now.”
The Vice-Chancellor of UNIMED, Prof. Ebunoluwa Adejuyigbe, who emphasised the need for inclusive leadership, stated that “diversity, equity and inclusion must not be afterthoughts. They must be embedded into the very foundation of our healthcare transformation.”
The Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health added that although the challenges faced by our healthcare are real, she encouraged that every challenge is also an invitation to innovate.
Adejuyigbe advocated collaboration among all the stakeholders in the health sector: “By fostering collaboration among clinicians, researchers, technologists, and policymakers, we can craft solutions that are not only effective but also sustainable and scalable.”
The Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Prof. Oluseyi Adejumo, explained why UNIMED, as the premier university of medical sciences, is taking the lead in deploying technology and innovation to enhance medical care in Nigeria.
He said, “This gathering is coming at a time when the world is rapidly progressing in technological interventions and artificial intelligence. The healthcare space is not left out, and it has become clearer than ever that technology has numerous and vital roles to play in the practice of medicine in this current age.
“We must therefore leverage these potentials and innovations to improve our healthcare delivery system if we do not want to be left behind.”
