Surgical experts call for improved efficiencies through collaboration

Surgical experts of the National Institute of Health Research, Global Surgery Unit, Nigeria Network, have called for improvement in surgical outcomes for patients through increased cross-functional collaboration and partnership in Nigeria. This call was made during the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Global Surgery Unit Nigeria Hub Network’s Dissemination and Engagement conference that was held at the Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos State on June 16, 2022.

The Director of the Nigeria Hub Network, Prof. Adesoji Ademuyiwa, explained that the main aim of the conference was to disseminate the outcome of the Global Surg Unit 1 Studies and trials to Nigerian Regulatory Bodies, Government Agencies as well as Policy Makers and to also engage them in fruitful partnerships. He also added that the secondary objectives of the conference were to introduce the participating centers to rural surgeries, update them on new projects within the NIHR GSU Network and introduce them to Community Engagement and Involvement.

According to the National Health Research Ethics Committee Chairman’s representatives, Dr. Mafe Margaret and Mr. Ado Danladi, the Nigeria Network’s engagement with the regulatory body elicited a sense of partnership with an assurance that subsequent proposals by the institute would be treated with the seriousness and urgency it needs. They also assured the researchers that the turnaround time for review, assessment and approval would be closer to 21 days than 90 days.

The representative from the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Kamil Shoretire, commended the groundbreaking research output from the Nigeria Network and was very impressed with the collaborative effort in solving locally relevant surgical challenges. He challenged the Unit to notify the Federal Ministry of Health, through the Department of Hospital Services whenever research is being carried out across federal institutions for the purpose of their monitoring and evaluation. He also encouraged the network that in designing studies that may require policy change at the National level, funds should be allocated to a stakeholder’s forum where evidence from the studies can be discussed and logistics of policy adoption can be considered for its smooth implementation.

The Deputy Provost from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof. Osaretin A.T. Ebuehi in his goodwill speech, stated that the primary aim of the global surgery unit is to empower frontline surgeons to bring out a positive change for their patients while advocating to policy makers for high level change.