JUTH, UNIJOS to commence kidney transplant centre- CMD

The Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), has begun collaboration with the University of Jos (UNIJOS), for the take-off of a kidney transplant centre.

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Dr. Pokop Bupwatda, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of JUTH, disclosed this in an interview with the Newsmen, on Sunday in Jos.

Bupwatda said that the project was set to take-off with a N1 billon grant given to the university by the Tertiary Trust Education Fund (TETFund).

The CMD, said that work had already commenced as some equipment had already been supplied.

“The construction of the Tissue Typing Laboratory is ongoing and both institutions are providing human and material resources to start off the kidney transplant centre. Currently, we have some personnel who have gone outside Nigeria for training, while some are training in the country,” he said.

On the hospital’s special services, Bupwatda also said that JUTH was one of the Teaching hospitals that the Federal Government had chosen to site a cancer treatment centre, which he said would lessen the burden of those with cancer.

Bupwatda, revealed that the process had commenced, and the Federal government was determined to ensure its take-off.

“The coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ail Pate, has taken this seriously, we have had series of meetings concerning that. A team has been sent to conduct an assessment, and the Federal Government has provided the funds. We are trying to see how we can bring in partners and collaborators for its sustenance. By the time it becomes operational, many Nigerians would have relief as the Federal Government is working to have many cancer treatment centres in the country to lessen the cancer burden,” he said.

The CMD further disclosed that the hospital’s Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeons, with a team of surgeons from Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., also successfully conducted a cochlear implant surgery earlier this month.

According to Bupwatda, the cochlear implant is an electronic medical device that replaces the function of the damaged part of the inner ear (cochlear) to provide sound signals to the brain.

He further explained that the implant was constructed to restore the lost activity of the affected part, and to correct the hearing impairment.

The CMD said that the surgery would help reduce the spate of medical tourism, as more deaf persons could access the service at JUTH.

According to him also, JUTH is the only hospital in the entire West African region that has a Temporal Bone Dissection Laboratory.

According to report, a team of surgeons in 2017 led by Dr James Douglas Green, from the Jacksonville Hearing and Balance Institute, Florida, U.S., trained 12 doctors from JUTH in cochlear implant.

NAN/Wumi