The National President of the Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Nigeria (ACTSON), Prof. Anietimfon Etiuma has decried the exorbitant cost of treating children born with congenital cardiac, thoracic, and vascular diseases in the country.
Etiuma noted that many children born with these conditions in Nigeria have little realistic hope of survival unless their families or communities manage to raise funds — often at the cost of exhausting their savings.
At the 7th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the association, held at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Etiuma, in his speech made available to journalists on Friday, lamented that the country’s cardiothoracic and vascular surgery needs remain largely unmet due to various challenges, including the high cost of treatment.
The ACTSON president, however, stated that the conference aimed to devise solutions to reduce deaths among children with chest diseases in Nigeria.
He said, ‘Cardiac surgery in Nigeria is still in the developmental phase in most institutions across the country. There are gaps in infrastructure, equipment, availability of consumables, financing, and highly skilled human resources—including full team setups, patient load, clinical experience, and outcome measurement. The challenges are enormous and sometimes overwhelming.’
‘The cardiothoracic and vascular surgery needs of Nigeria’s vast population of over 200 million remain significantly underserved. Children born with congenital cardiac, thoracic, and vascular diseases in Nigeria have little hope of survival unless their families or communities raise funds—often at the risk of financial ruin—to save a single child. Acquired cardiovascular and thoracic diseases continue to be a major cause of death, affecting over a quarter of the world’s population, including Nigeria.’
‘We are here to drive a paradigm shift and change the narrative, offering rays of hope that children and adults with chest diseases in Nigeria will no longer face a death sentence. The biggest challenge before us is funding for cardiovascular surgery in Nigeria, as well as the establishment of a coordinated and well-funded training programme for medical teams.’
The guest speaker at the event, Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, speaking on the theme ‘Challenging Dynamics of Cardiac Surgery in Nigeria,’ stated that politicians and policymakers rarely demonstrate a strong commitment to establishing world-class centres of excellence in healthcare and other sectors.
