Spinal Cord injury Day: FG, others urged to prioritize care
The Federal Government and other stakeholders in the health sector have been enjoined to prioritize the care and management of spinal cord injury patients in the country.
Medical experts made the call yesterday during the commemoration of the World Spinal Cord injury Day organized by the Brain and Spine Surgery Consortium in collaboration with other partners in Abuja against statistics that one in every four Africans that has road traffic accident is a Nigerian, and more than half of all spinal cord injuries are caused by road traffic accidents..
The experts said prioritizing spinal injury care had become necessary because of the high rates of road traffic accidents and high rate of spinal cord injuries in the country.
Dr Ola Brown, Founder, Flying Doctors Nigeria, said Nigeria has one of the highest spinal injury rates in the world and that it is not a disease of the old, but one that affects younger people mainly between the ages of 25 and 45.
Dr Douglas Emeka Okor, a Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Brain and Spine Surgery Consortium, said spinal cord injuries were caused by industrial accidents, falls, assaults and sports injury, among others. He said there was need to prioritise spinal cord injuries and road traffic accidents the way malaria and polio are priorizized because they are major public health issues in the country.
The expert said there was need to train key organizations such as Federal Road Safety Corps, the military , police, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the paramilitary organisations on the high way on advanced trauma life support care in order to effectively manage spinal cord injury patients.
Dr Mbamalu Chibuike Chizoba , a physiotherapist said there was no single rehabilitation home in the country where spinal cord injury patients can access quality intensive physical therapy .
He said there was need for collaboration between the private and public sectors to alleviate the sufferings of spinal cord injury patients in the country.
Dr Olumide Alao Medical Director, Zitadel Medicals and Diagnostics Limited called for the enactment of a law to enable people with disabilities access disability allowance, access employment and work even if its twice a week and also from home.