The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), has advised Nigerians to support medical experts who are working hard to save the country from foreign capital flight.
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The NMA Chairman, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chapter, Dr. Charles Ugwanyi, gave the advice in Abuja, the nations capital at a media briefing organized to give Alliance Hospital the opportunity to explain its own side of the story on the alleged organ harvesting.
He charged Nigerians not to take laws into their hands whenever there is an issue but due process should be followed to resolve it.
Dr. Ugwanyi stressed that, “Alliance Hospital has pushed organ transplant to a very high standard. It is our duty as medical association to take interest in the allegations.
“Whereas we appreciate the fact that some of our hospitals in Nigeria are providing high end services, especially, kidney transplant that has caused the country so much money in terms of foreign capital flight out of the country, on the other hand, we are also worried about the ethical standard in performing these high end operations.
“We are assuring Nigerians that our duty as Doctors under the Hippocratic Code is to make sure we protect the right and dignity of all patients even after death,” he said.
Dr. Ugwanyi added, “On that note, we have taught it wise to interrogate the management of Alliance Hospital, although they have given us some explanations but it is important that we bring them to come and explain to the media what has been going on.
“At this point, it is important we note that in any situation there are due processes and such matters are probably not best addressed in the media.”
The NMA Chairman further stressed that, “I want to make it very clear that the NMA and its organs of administration are neither for or against Alliance Hospital. Our duty in this instance is to create a platform whereby the accused has an opportunity to say something on an allegation that has gone viral.
“NMA will never at any point in time, encourage negligence of duty or malpractice. We have internal mechanism to check our practice. Don’t take laws into your hands.
“Some publications can be very misleading, they can be one sided. We want a situation where any potential case is given a balanced judgement.”
On his part, the Chief Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon and Proprietor, Alliance Hospital and Services, Dr. Christopher Otabor vehemently denied Alliance Hospital’s involvement in illegal organ harvesting, stressing the existence of an organ market outside the hospital’s purview.
He explained that the procedure for kidney transplant in Alliance Hospital include, as a rule, kidney recipients source for their donors and present them to the hospital for screening for compatibility and fitness for donation.
After the screening, proceeding to ensure they meet the legal requirements which include that the donor must be 18 years or above, donor must sign consent in the presence of two adult witnesses; donor is expected to swear an affidavit stating their age, and affirming that the decision to donate is by free will and there is no compulsion or financial inducement and the relationship of the donor to the recipient.
Dr. Otabor called for a thorough investigation into the alleged organ trafficking and encouraged media houses to uncover key players in this trade.
He said that the position against the hospital pronounced a guilty verdict on it and called for punishment for the hospital without due regard to facts.
While saying that the publication by Daily Trust was a deliberate attempt to malign the hospital, Dr. Otabor, however, explained that the Daily Trust reporter Lami Sadiq, visited the hospital and spoke with the medical director on the case in question and was given all the facts.
“While we appreciate the need for investigative journalism to get to the root of societal problems, we must state here categorically that the daily trust report is a calculated attempt to malign the hospital having disregarded the facts presented to them. They chose whose story to believe.
“From the report, it is obvious that there is an organ market out there which Alliance hospital is not part of and can never condescend to transact in.
“I encourage other media houses with genuine intentions to dig deep to unravel the key players in this trade, Alliance Hospital has nothing to do with illegal organ harvesting,” he said.
He expressed confidence in legislative measures by the National Assembly to send a strong message that organ trafficking would not be tolerated in Nigeria.
The medical experts in the country highlighted the prevalent practice of kidney recipients sourcing their own donors, with the hospital screening for compatibility and legal requirements.
The NMA’s advocacy extends beyond legislation to include increased public awareness and education on the dangers of organ trafficking.
Dr. Ugwuanyi called for a multi-sectoral approach involving government agencies, law enforcement, healthcare professionals, and civil society organizations to effectively tackle this complex issue, safeguard citizens, and uphold principles of medical ethics and human rights.
