Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The only functional cardiovascular laboratory in the entire South South and the South East geopolitical zones is located in the Bayelsa Specialist Hospital (BSH), Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, Dr Edafe Emmanuel, Interventional Cardiologist, has disclosed.
According to him, since the inauguration of the hospital, which was built by Governor Seriake Dickson, the lab has been providing services to patients from 11 states that make up the zone and other parts of the country, due to the non-availability of the facility.
Edafe, in an interview to showcase facilities at the BSH, disclosed that cardio lab at the University Teaching Hospital, Enugu has not been working in the last three years, while the one established in Akwa Ibom State by former governor Godswill Akpabio has not been functioning.
He said: “In the Bayelsa Specialist Hospital, we have a functional cardiovascular laboratory that serves the whole of South South and South East. This is the only functioning card lab in the 11 states.
“There are four other cardiovascular labs in Nigeria, three in Lagos, and one in Abuja. The one in Abuja serves the whole of the North, and it is privately driven. In Enugu, the Federal Government tried to establish one, but, it never worked.
“There is one in Akwa Ibom established by the former governor; it has been shut down for the past three years. There is one coming up in Owerri, which is privately driven. So, these are the only functioning labs, only five functional card labs in Nigeria. This is how terrible it is. People die every day.”
Edafe, who attributed the high influx of patients to BSH to the efficiency and proper management of the laboratory, said over 100 patients from outside the state patronised the hospital for cardiovascular procedures in the past one year.
