We Have World-class Facilities At Uyo Teaching Hospital – CMD

The University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH) has continued to deliver qualitative health care to Akwa Ibom people  and even  to some  African  countries such as the Republic of Cameroon, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.  In this interview with Bernard Tolani Dada, Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Ettete Peters, speaks on his efforts to reposition and make the hospital one of the best in the country.

University of Uyo Teaching Hospital is the only federal government tertiary health institution in Akwa Ibom State which caters for over four million people; how have you been able to cope with the pressure of work?

During his last visit to the hospital, the  minister of state for health  commended  your management for  providing quality infrastructure and having 10 standard dialysis machines; don’t you think that you need more to cope with the ever increasing number of patients?

Well dialysis has been a major life-line and an important aspect  in  medical treatment,  but then it is not about the number of machines; our main problem now is space. Right now we have enough machines; in fact, some are still in the store. The building we have currently cannot take more than ten machines, so we are looking for a way to expand the dialysis centre because of the volume of patients that we have  from many of the states in the south south geo-political zone and even from  other West African countries such as the Cameroon  Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. So with that kind of volume, there is the need for us to expand.

You have received some form of assistance for the dialysis centre from the state government; is there no other area where Akwa Ibom State Government can help in the centre?

 I have to thank Governor Godswill Akpabio for what he has done for the hospital, especially the procurement of some dialysis machines; but like Oliver Twist, we would continue to appeal for more support. Being a promise-keeping governor, he has assured that he would assist us in other critical areas such as the hospital internal roads and structures.

So we would appreciate more support from the state government to enable us  care for the people medically, and as I have mentioned  that what we need most now  are buildings  to accommodate  our teeming patients;  in fact, the space we have  has been occupied  and  more patients are  coming in, but our 500 capacity beds have all been occupied.

So, we would appreciate it if the state government can assist us in that direction and, of course, he has committed Exxon Mobil to build a world class trauma centre for us here at the teaching hospital.

Don’t you think that patients from A/Ibom with a population of over four million, including others from Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon that come here to access health care are putting pressure on your facilities?

Since teaching , training and, of course, provision of health care are the core mandates of the hospital, we  don’t really mind, provided we have the resources to carry on. And we cannot also turn back the patients no matter the situation, so we try as much as possible to accept these patients and accommodate and treat them.

It even gives us a lot of pleasure  to see people coming from other countries  to  be treated at the centre here. That  also shows that someone out there  appreciates what we have done  or doing. So, we would still continue to do our best  despite the fact that  our facilities are being overstretched, and as  part of the core mandate of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, we must strive to live up to expectation by providing qualitative heath care for the people.

We can see quite a number of uncompleted projects here and contractors are not on site; why is this so?

It is not true that contractors are not on site. What you can say is that works are a little bit slow,  but they are still working and they are making progress even though work seems to be slow. Very soon  many of them will be completed. I am quite convinced that some of them, like the amenity ward  and the general out -patient  should be completed and ready for commissioning within the next two months. Don’t forget that the completion of these projects  is subject to the availability of funds and the Federal Ministry of Health is assisting to ensure that money is made available,  and we are quite appreciative of their effort .

What is your relationship with the host communities?

Yes, we have a good working relationship and understanding with members of the hospital host communities. They are highly supportive and I want to use this opportunity to thank them, because without a conducive environment,  we probably could not have achieved much. The villagers are  quite appreciative of having the hospital  on  their soil.

The Good Governance Team  led by information minister Labaran Maku  adjudged the teaching hospital as very neat;  what effort did you put in place to achieve this ?

We adopted the concept that cleanliness is next to godliness and we believe that if you are a care provider, one should start from a clean environment because if someone who is sick walks into a very clean environment  - which is where the process of healing normally begin, the environment where sick person are being treated matters a lot. So, here we understand how the sick feel and we try as much as possible to provide a serene, neat and clean environment for them to make them feel at home.

Members of the Teaching Hospital Management Board were recently sworn in; tell me your expectations from them.

Our expectation is quite  great  and we are  so happy with the calibre of people  who are now on our board, starting from the chairman who is a technocrat with wide range of experience, and other members; they are very dynamic, visionary and ready to  assist us to achieve our goals and objectives.

We thank Mr. President for selecting these men of high standard to oversee the affairs of the teaching hospital; we are grateful. From the little interactions we had with them during their inauguration, they all promised to be supportive and the management teams are also ready to work with them.

This year’s World Malaria Day has come and gone; what role has the teaching hospital played to reduce the rate of malaria attack in the state?

 Well, first and foremost, malaria has remained a major public health problem, not only in Nigeria, but also in Akwa Ibom.  It accounts for over 60% of the teaching hospital outpatient visits and 30% admissions. Malaria poses a major challenge to the  people as it impedes human development. It is both a cause and consequence of underdevelopment and remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the country.

In Akwa Ibom,  people’s behaviour, coupled with environmental factors, has  encouraged the breeding of mosquitoes,  thus increasing  human vector contact which promote the continuous transmission of infection. We provide medical  treatment  and also  encourage our people to take to the simple measures of cleaning of their  environment, using insecticide treated  mosquito nets and repellents to help in preventing mosquito bites. And since the avoidance of bites is not possible, however, the number of bites may be reduced as much as possible.

Are you satisfied with the quality of staff currently in the employ of the hospital?

Yes, I am quite satisfied with the quality of staff here because we recruited  the best qualified and well trained personnel to assist us in the health care delivery. As a matter of fact, we equally embark on trainings whether within or outside the country to build their capacity, and they are all performing creditably.

The staff here is also well treated and supported in terms of good welfare package, so they are all happy and working very hard to ensure that we achieve our major task of providing quality service delivery.

Heart attacks and stroke have recently been a major health challenge in Nigeria; what is the cause and what has the  hospital done to stem the tide in Akwa Ibom?

A stroke, brain attack, or a Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)  is the sudden death of brain cells caused by a lack of supply in oxygen to the brain.

It is the result of a blockage or a reduction of blood flow in an artery that irrigates the brain. They are caused either by a blood clot (thrombus) which blocks the blood vessel or by the build-up of plaque (often due to cholesterol) within the arteries which narrows vessels, resulting in a loss of blood flow. So when it occurrs, the brain cells die in the affected areas resulting to damaged or even lost neurons. Patients will often suffer physical disabilities such as partial loss of multicity or hemiplegic, sensory loss, language disorders, asphyxia, visual disorders, and even memory loss. Level of recovery will vary from patient to patient.

So when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted or blocked for any reason, the consequences are usually drastic. Control over movement, perception, speech, or other mental or bodily functions is impaired, and consciousness itself may be lost. Disruptions of blood circulation to the brain are known as stroke - a disorder that occurs in two basic forms, both potentially life-threatening. About three-quarters of all strokes are due to blockage of the oxygen-rich blood vessels.

The facilities we have  here are modern and quite  enough; we give proper medical attention to our patients and have even assisted some of them to recover, but above all we advise the  people to watch their diets,  refrain from  living unwholesome lifestyle, do regular medical check –up,  and have regular exercise. We solicit the assistance of well meaning individuals in the state,  corporate organizations and government agencies to come and assist the hospital in  providing  trauma centres to enable us do more for our patients.