Open heart surgery begins again in UNTH

THERE was cheery news for Nigerians
with heart conditions, as the Minister of
Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu,
on Wednesday, reported to the Federal
Executive Council (FEC) that open heart
surgery, which had been suspended for
at least 10 years, has now
recommenced in the country.
Minister of Information, Mr Labaran
Maku, who revealed this while briefing
State House correspondents after the
weekly meeting of FEC, presided over by
President Goodluck Jonathan, said the
procedure was being carried out at the
University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital
(UNTH), Enugu.
The activities of the open heart surgery
unit of UNTH were suspended about a
decade ago, following the relocation of
the UNTH from its former site within
the Enugu metropolis to its permanent
site at Ituku-Ozala.
Maku said the health minister broke the
news to the council, saying that it was
made possible by the contributions of
Nigerian experts abroad.
He said with the development,
Nigerians with various heart conditions
no longer have to travel abroad for
surgery, which could now be performed
in the country at a much cheaper rate
at about N500,000.
The minister, who was flanked by his
National Planning and Sports
counterparts, Dr Shamsudeen Imam
and Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi
respectively, also briefed the media on
the progress reports presented to
council by the ministries of National
Planning and Sports.
According to him, FEC was impressed by
the performance of National Planning,
especially for coming up with the
Performance Contract initiative, which is
currently being used to assess the
performances of various ministries and
other government agencies.
Speaking on the report presented by his
ministry, Dr Usman remarked that with
the introduction of the Performance
Contract signed between the president
and the ministers in August 2012, over
three quarters of the ministers had now
submitted the progress reports of their
ministries.
“For the first time in history,
government is being accountable to the
people. We account to the president
who appointed us but many are turning
their reports into annual reports, which
are made available to the people,” he
said.
The minister added with the rate the
ministers were going, the 2012 annual
report could be produced by June.