The management of the Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD) Multi-System Hospital has said that the lack of access roads and the incomplete commencement of operations at the Ekiti Airport are aiding medical tourism abroad.
This was just as the management disclosed that it has begun a formal collaboration with Marengo Asia Hospitals, a leading medical group based in India, with a view to deepen surgical excellence and expand the scope of specialized procedures available to patients in Nigeria.
Speaking with newsmen at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Akinola Akinmade, said that since the commencement of this collaboration, the Marengo Asia surgical team — working alongside the Multi-System Hospital’s Nigerian clinicians — has successfully completed nine kidney transplant procedures.
According to him, despite these strides in service delivery and global partnerships, the hospital continues to face significant infrastructural challenges that limit patient access and threaten the sustainability of its achievements, including the poor condition of the access roads leading to the hospital and the incomplete take-off of the Ekiti Airport project.
Dr. Akinmade said that these challenges remain a major barrier for patients, emergency transport, and visiting partners. “In addition, the Ekiti Airport project, which holds promise for expanding access and enabling faster referrals and medical tourism, is yet to take off fully.
“We therefore use this platform to appeal once again to all stakeholders to urgently intervene in improving the access routes and to fast-track the operationalization of the airport infrastructure in Ekiti State.”
He said: “Late last year, Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital (AMSH), under the visionary leadership of our Founder, Aare Afe Babalola, began a formal collaboration with Marengo Asia Hospitals, a leading medical group based in India. This partnership was established to deepen surgical excellence and expand the scope of specialized procedures available to patients right here in Nigeria.
“Since the commencement of this collaboration, the Marengo Asia surgical team — working alongside our dedicated Nigerian clinicians — has successfully completed nine (9) kidney transplant procedures here at AMSH. These procedures were carried out with the highest standards of safety and clinical quality, with excellent outcomes in all the cases carried out.
“In addition to transplant services, our Renal Centre is equipped with 17 modern dialysis machines, including dedicated machines for patients with infectious conditions such as hepatitis and similar ailments. The centre currently conducts an average of 400 dialysis treatment sessions each month, making it one of the busiest and most comprehensive dialysis programs in the country.”
The CMD added that, in recognition of their shared success and the enabling environment provided by ABUAD, the Marengo Asia team has also expressed strong interest in expanding their services into endourological surgeries and erectile dysfunction interventions — areas that are often underrepresented but critical to men’s health and quality of life.
“We see this as a vital step toward making AMSH not only a national reference point but a global destination for complex, patient-centered care.
“Beyond these surgical milestones, AMSH continues to uphold its social mandate through the Afe Abiye program, a charitable maternal and child health initiative launched late last year. I am pleased to report that under this program, we have already attended to over 500 pregnant women, providing them with completely free antenatal care, and conducted more than 150 deliveries at no cost to the patients or their families.”
