Dr Omotayo Adesiyun, a Consultant Paediatrician at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), has called on the Federal Government to resuscitate pre-hospital care in Nigeria.
Adesiyun made the call in Ilorin while presenting a paper at the 36th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University of Ilorin (UITH) Chapter.
Pre-hospital emergency medicine, also known as pre-hospital care, is a medical subspecialty which focuses on caring for seriously ill or injured patients before they reach the hospital.
Adesiyun’s presentation was entitled:” Current Trends in the Management of Paediatric Emergencies.”
She called for well equipped and appropriately staffed ambulances and a proper communication system which would assist children in emergencies
According to her, the anatomy of children makes them prone to injuries as they have less protective muscles and fat as well as the pliable skeleton.
The expert on children health listed causes of paediatric emergencies to include asthma, poisoning, burns, assault and trauma.
She warned mothers against force-feeding their babies, saying they could asphyxiate and choke on the food.
Adesiyun also appealed to people to make their homes and schools safe for children, adding that ventilation remains important at all times.
Also speaking at the event, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi, the Chairman of the Editorial Board of Thisday Newspaper, said Nigerians who embark on medical tourism abroad were vulnerable to complications.
This, he said, was due to poor health service delivery because of the language barrier and exploitation.
Adeniyi spoke on the topic:” The Interminable Trend in Medical Tourism in Nigeria: A corollary or Ancillary of the Collapse in the Health Sector.”
He said: “We have the competent hands here in Nigeria but we lack the facilities and these are the challenges that we have in our health sector.
“There is nothing we can do to stop medical tourism except for Nigeria to prioritise the health sector and embrace such international practice such as global marketing campaign to market our policy on health”.
Adeniyi advised the government to fund and upgrade the health sector, adding that these required the intervention of all stakeholders.
Prof. Yusuf Dasilva, the Chief Medical Director of UITH, noted that the health sector in the country was facing challenges of the paucity of funds and overworked staff.
He urged the Federal Government to revamp the health sector in the country.
Earlier in his address of welcome, Dr Salihu Olaitan, the President of ARD, appealed to the management of UITH to recruit additional doctors and other support staff.
He also urged the management to do more in promoting the welfare of members of the association.