Church To Use Technology To Halt Medical Tourism

THealing Strips Hospital, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), City of David Parish, has acquired an apheresis machine with the intent to halt medical tourism and provide innovative care to patients.

The machine, according to the hospital’s Consultant Nephrologist, Debo Akinwunmi, is key and efficient in the treatment of such ailments as renal issues, neurology and haematology, blood related diseases.

Apheresis, he said, is a medical technology that can remove unwanted materials from the blood, without tampering with other constituents.

Akinwunmi said the apheresis machine can be used to remove sickled red cells and replace with normal red cells to ease crises and organ damage in a procedure called exchanged blood transfusion.

“It is not a cure, but gives relief for a long time. Before now, patients were re- ferred to England and India. But the acquisition of the technical device would reduce all the risks associated with travelling.”

The Doctor in Charge of the hospital, Dr. Ezinne Onyemere commended the church for acquiring the machine, as it would help provide precision care to patients.

She said the machine could perform 10 protocols, but the hospital, for now, would focus on three pressing ones: therapeutic apheresis, plasma and red blood cell exchange.