UCH carries out first successful heart bye-pass graft

Prof. Temitope Alonge, the Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital, Ibadan, says the tertiary health institution was the first to carry out a successful heart coronary bye-pass graft in the country.
Alonge made the disclosure on Thursday at the official launch of the institution’s Interventional Cardiology Programme at the Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall at UCH, Ibadan.
“The UCH successfully carried out the first heart coronary artery bye-pass graft on the 13th of January, 2014, ‘’ he said.
He said the cardiology programme, which commenced in 2013, had undertaken 14 cardiac catheterisation procedures with four requiring angioplasty and stenting.
Alonge, however, appealed to Nigerians to endow various aspects of the programmes such as the UCH Heart Centre, the Ultra-modern Cardiac Operating Room and the Catheterisation Laboratory.
Others, he added, were the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and a Step-Down High Dependency Unit.
The Minister of State for the FCT, Mrs Jumoke Akinjide, represented by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Jordan, Mr Taofeek Arapaja, commended the institution for the programme.
“Given the Federal Government’s commitment to revolutionising health care in Nigeria, the era of going abroad for heart surgeries will soon be a thing of the past.
“The UCH should be supported since it now has a qualified cardiac team and effective equipment to work with,” she said.
Also speaking, the wife of the Oyo State governor, Mrs Florence Ajimobi, commended the cardiac team and its partners.
She described UCH as a worthy partner of her ABC health initiative and pledged her continued support to the programme.
Dignitaries present at the occasion included emeritus professor, Olajide Ogunlesi, and the wife of the deputy governor of Oyo State, Mrs Janet Adeyemo.