Three kids: David Adeyemi, 5; Ibrahim Mohammed, 3; and Ibrahim Mohammed Sambo , 4, with holes in their hearts, can live following open heart surgeries performed on them at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH). Head of the surgery team of the teaching hospital, Dr Peter Adeoye, told Sunday Vanguard that the children were discharged on Monday, May 9, after the successful surgeries. They are in stable condition.

"They were given given routine medication after the surgery and are expected to check back after a month, "Adeoye said. "Evaluations were carried out on the three kids which confirmed that the defects were no more there".

The doctor announced that Nigerians should look forward to such opportunity for open heart surgery in the teaching hospital in the next six months . Mr Adeyemi, the father of one of the kids, David, who spoke on behalf of the parents, expressed appreciation to God and the team involved in the hole in the heart surgeries. He was particularly grateful to the hospital management that the cost was even far below the discounted amount which made it affordable for the parents.

An excited Chief Medical Director of the UITH, Prof Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, said the open heart surgeries were performed on the kids by a combined team of medical experts from Apollo Hospital, India, led by Dr Neville Solomon, and that of the teaching hospital, led by Adeoye. He said the cost of the surgery ranged between N700, 000 and N1. 8million, adding that the parents could not afford the fees, hence the hospital subsidized it as they only paid less than 20% of the cost.

Olatinwo also said the UITH’s collaboration with Apollo Hospital, India to carry out open heart surgery started with the first one performed on two young girls in July 2015. The CMD said the Medical Director of Apollo Hospital, Solomon, was a renown cardiac surgeon who performs over 3, 000 heart surgeries free around the world in a year.

Olatinwo, who said the UITH would soon become a one-shop heart facility in Africa, stressed that three doctors from the hospital were on the verge of completing training in heart surgery in India. He said the vision of the hospital was to be the best heart centre in Africa before 2018, hence the resolve of the management to send the three doctors on training.

According to the CMD, what the hospital has been doing for the past five years borders on medical tourism. "As part of our vision, we want to make the hospital a one-stop heart facility which we believe, with this in place, anybody with heart problem in Nigeria, Africa and West Africa can come for treatment," Olatinwo said.