Authorities of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) have discharged Aishat Jubril, 15, and Kamalat Balogun, 7, two weeks after their successful open-heart surgery, a first in the hospital.

The corrective operations were performed two weeks ago by doctors from the Cardio-Thoracic unit of the hospital alongside a medical team from Apollos Pediatrics Hospital, India.

At a discharge ceremony organised by the management of the UITH headed by its Chief Medical Director (CMD) Professor Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, Ahishat and Kamalat were full of life, a sharp contrast to their pre-operations frail look.

Olatinwo hailed staff of the hospital for their dedication to duty, thanking God for making the exercise a success.

The CMD said, "We thank you all for this feat. We particularly thank Almighty God for His support to us. Nobody is inferior or superior among all those who contributed to the success of today. You all gave your best care possible to the patients."

He thanked the parents of the discharged patients for their confidence in the medical team assembled by the hospital.

Olatinwo said wealthy Nigerians should support the government in providing affordable healthcare services to Nigerians, noting that the aim of the hospital was never to celebrate individual achievement but to sensitise members of the public with similar health challenges that the corrective surgeries could now be successfully done in the country.

"We can all contribute our quota to this mantra of change. Let those with the wherewithal come to the aid of those in dire need so that we can all live together in peace and good health," he added.

Announcing the feat earlier, the CMD said between five and 10 will benefit from the programme in the next round of surgical operation fixed for October and November.

The CMD said that the hospital ventured into the "open heart surgery programme" because of its recognition of cardiovascular diseases as the number one cause of non-communicable diseases death nationwide.

Said he: "Specifically, common indications for Open Heart Surgery such as congenital heart disease are common in our environment occurring in about 1 in 100, 000 live births and when left untreated are a cause of early childhood death or disability. Many of the affected children are from poor families who cannot afford the huge cost of care outside the country.

"The hospital management decided to move the Hospital into this new realm of service delivery to give succour to the helpless patients in the society and contribute our quota to reversing the current trend of medical tourism to hospitals outsde the country and end the associated capital flight.

"The success of this programme was made possible by the invaluable support of the federal government through strategic allocation and prudent use of our internally generated revenue, careful selection of the right teams, the contributions of our staff in cash and in kind, and the generous support of many philanthropists in the society."