For the first time in Nigeria, specialists in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) will commence bone marrow transplant on a full scale by June 2023.
Professor of Paediatrics, Edamisan Olusoji Temiye, made this disclosure while delivering the thirteenth (13th) Inaugural Lecture in the 2021/2022 Academic Session of the University of Lagos on Wednesday.
Prof. Temiye, in his paper titled,” Catastrophic Diseases of Children: The Despair, The Struggle, The Hope for the Future”, further revealed that this milestone was the result of the collaboration between LUTH and Sickle Cell Foundation Nigeria (SCFN), which also facilitated the establishment of the first Comprehensive Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Centre in Lagos, the first of its kind in West Africa.
When fully operational, the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Centre in LUTH, is anticipated to end the need for Nigerians to travel abroad to seek a cure for sickle cell disease.
In addition, the centre is expected to attract medical tourists from other countries seeking safe bone marrow transplantation procedures, marking a new era for medical tourism in Nigeria.
Furthermore, one of the pieces of equipment donated to the centre by the Chevron/NNPC joint venture, an 8-colour Beckmann flow cytometer, is required for Prof. Temiye and his team to process and determine the quality of bone marrow obtained from the donor to be transplanted into the recipient will also assist in the characterization of different types of cancers, particularly leukaemia, in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole.
Connect with us on our socials: