Connect with us

Rivers

UPTH Begins Kidney Transplant, Oct

Published

on

The management of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) says it would begin kidney transplant by October 2024.
Chairman of Medical Advisory Committee, (MAC), UPTH, Prof Datonye Alasia, gave the timeline for the operation at the hospital grounds presentation by the Renal Department.
Prof Alasia said UPTH is collaborating with the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas, NLNG, and other organisations to equip the centre for the service.
“NLNG has a foundation where they support healthcare and they have been doing this across the country. So for us, there is an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to equip a dialysis centre, but we felt that would be limited in scope. So, we had to find a way to push it up to align with our plans for a transplantation centre, so that collaboration is there and we are happy to say that NLNG has done something significant.
“They have funded the provision of equipments and some supports to the external works and we are actually at eighty five percent of completion and that’s going to contribute to the success of the project.
“For us, our strategic timeline is October 2024 and that’s what we are working towards, but, of course, if all the assumptions go as we planed, it will be October because we have trainings of staff, people will travel, MoUs will be signed, procurement timelines will also affect us, but our focus is to stay on that date and see that we achieve it”, he said.
On the importance of the Ground rounds presentation, the Chairman said the essence is to get the hospital community and the public to be aware of the services and what’s involved in it.
“For today, we have the Renal Department presenting because of the planned renal transplantation and the essence is to create the awareness internally and from the programme you see that it involves different professional groups such as nephrology, pharmacists, paediatricians, nurses, psychologists and virtually everybody in the hospital. So, it is a multi-disciplinary thing.
”This presentation also helps members of the team to have a better understanding of what they are expected to offer, transplant patients and every aspect of the service that will influence the patients journey. We also believe that this would improve that multi-disciplinary team spirit”, he explained.
The MAC Chairman further said UPTH has commenced a transplant clinic to further demonstrate its preparedness for the transplantation programme.
“We have kicked-off the transplant clinic. While it was there, it was not structured specifically to attend to patients before transplant and post transplant, but now there is a deliberate attempt to structure it to make the public know clearly that the transplant clinic is a dedicated service.
“We used to run within the nephrology clinic before and the urology clinic but it’s now a clinic of its own. That’s the first step, the public should know that the service is being offered here as a collaboration and partnership with people such as foundations who have interest to support transplantation and they may now find that since they are aware, they can now interface and network with us to see how they can support because kidney transplantation is a very cost intensive venture”, Alasia said.
Earlier, UPTH Transplant Team Leader, Professor Onyenunam Okeke said the presentation at the Ground Rounds centred on the prospects of starting a kidney transplant programme in UPTH, adding that the hospital has qualified personnel to handle kidney disease cases.
“UPTH has a large team. UPTH is set up as an institution for trainning, Service and for research, but we are highlighting the area of service, so we have a lot of skilled personnel and we have the patients that also requires transplant. We have not started before now but we are in the process of starting the transplant programme”, he explained further.
Okeke disclosed that the programme is part of the management’s strategic programme, saying UPTH is collaborating with organisations and sister institutions to get the service started.
“The present management of the hospital as part of the five years development programme wants to carryout this kidney transplant.
“We cannot do it alone, so we are collaborating with some centres, both locally and internationally, and through the efforts of management, we have a specific building that’s design for it”, he said.
Okeke, who doubles as Deputy Provost, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, urged members of the public to know that when kidney fails they can be replaced, stressing that the process of transplantation is safe and for all and sundry.

By: Chinedu Wosu

Continue Reading

Rivers

Police Investigate Officer’s Suicide In PH

Published

on

The Police Command in Rivers State has confirmed the commencement of an investigation into the death of a police officer who allegedly took his own life in Port Harcourt.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Port Harcourt.
“We received a report about an officer who allegedly killed himself.
“However, we are currently investigating the report to ascertain what transpired”, she stated.
Iringe-Koko reported that the Commissioner of Police in the Sstate, CP Olugbenga Adepoju, directed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for a thorough investigation.
According to viral reports Monday, Insp. Maxwell Zabu, formerly a security detail to Victor Ihunwo, a former Chairman of Port Harcourt City Council, allegedly shot himself at Ihunwo’s residence in Eagle Island, Port Harcourt.
A source familiar with the incident said the matter was reported to the Azikiwe Police Division in the area.
“Following the report, detectives from the division visited the scene as part of preliminary investigation procedures”, the source added.

Continue Reading

Rivers

Perm Sec Tasks NUJ Leadership On Unity

Published

on

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Rivers State, Mr. Emmanuel Ndah, has charged the leadership of the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) to ensure that all factions of the union are collapsed, especially now that the election is over.
Ndah gave the charge when the newly elected executives of the council and some of its members led by the Chairman, Comrade Paul Bazia, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the State Secretariat Complex, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
The Permanent Secretary said he will do everything within his reach to ensure that the union is put in the front burner as far as their demands are achievable within the directives of the Sole Administrator of the State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas (rtd).
He also promised to ensure that the demands of the union get to the appropriate quarters.
According to him, the effort of the State Sole Administrator is to carry out programmes that can be achieved in six months and urged the NUJ to make demands that can be achieved within the period.
“The (Sole) Administrator has put so much effort to not only carry out achievable programmes, but also ensure peace and security in the State”, he said.
He, therefore,instructed the new executives to carry every member of the union along in the scheme of things.
“After the election, the union is now one. Carry everybody along so that the union will move forward”, he said.
The Chairman of NUJ, Bazia, had earlier assured the Permanent Secretary that the new executive was ready to work with the government to change the negative narratives and move the State forward.
Bazia further emphasised that the union will ensure factual reportage that will bring about the development of the State.
He also said the essence of the visit was to introduce the new executives to their host and lamented the deplorable condition of the NUJ Secretariat and urged the Permanent Secretary to help push the demands of the union to the state government, while highlighting some of the challenges faced in the Council.
“In terms of mobility, we have no vehicle, the one we have is in a bad shape. Most of the facilities are bad, so we need you to help push our issues to the Administrator pending when our Governor will be restored”, he said.
He thanked the Permanent Secretary for receiving members of the union within a short notice.

King Onunwor

Continue Reading

Rivers

Rivers Judiciary Denies Reports On SOLAD’s Sack

Published

on

The Rivers State Judiciary has denied claims of media reports online that a judge of its High Court issued a ruling in favour of Governor Siminalayi Fubara against former Governor Nyesom Wike and President Bola Tinubu allegedly sacking the Sole Administrator of the State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd).
A statement signed by the Chief Registrar of the State High Court, David Ihua-Maduenyi, on Wednesday in Port Harcourt, described the purported report as false and misleading, particularly for linking a judge of the State High Court, Justice Boma Diepiri, to a ruling that reportedly came from a Federal High Court.
According to the statement, Justice Diepiri is a Judge of the Rivers State High Court and not of the Federal High Court and currently on Easter vacation, which commenced on Monday, 14th April.
The Chief Registrar further clarified that the Federal High Court and the State High Court are separate entities, stressing that “the inclusion of Justice Diepiri’s name in the fabricated report underscores the crass ignorance of the author”.
The statement, signed by Ihua-Maduenyi, reads in part, “The attention of the Rivers State Judiciary has been drawn to a fake news report alleging that His Lordship, Hon. Justice Boma Diepiri, delivered a judgment sacking the Sole Administrator of Rivers State. This is false in its entirety.
“Justice Diepiri is a judge of the High Court of Rivers State, not of the Federal High Court as was falsely reported.
“Additionally, His Lordship is currently on Easter vacation which began on Monday, April 14, 2025”.
It advised the general public and members of the media to always cross checked information concerning the judiciary before publishing, and disregard the said report in its entirety, saying “its an embodiment of falsehood and fabricated story”.

Akujobi Amadi

Continue Reading

Trending