Skipper IQ Super Specialty Hospital has unveiled its second facility on the mainland in its bid to curb the spate of medical tourism in the country, especially for eye surgeries.
The hospital noted this at the opening of its second branch in Ilupeju area of Lagos State.
Addressing news men in a media briefing, the Medical Director of Skipper IQ Super Specialty Hospital, Dr. Temitope Tijani, said their mission is to be the foremost chain of eye hospitals, and to help reduce medical tourism.
“In the three years we have been in Nigeria, I can tell you there has been tremendous change in medical tourism. Right now, we have in our portfolios of surgeries for some of our leaders.
“For them to come to us and get their eye surgery done, I think it tells a lot of trust in the services we have been delivering.”
Tijani, who is an ophthalmologist, noted that the hospital has done a lot to reduce the advent of medical tourism in Nigeria.
The medical director highlighted that their services are from the basics to the very specialised: glasses, refractive errors, eye surgeries, allergic conjunctivitis, glaucoma, and cataract among others.”
On how to prevent visual impairment, Tijani recommended basic diet, and change in lifestyle.
“Let your lifestyle be healthy. Eating of balanced diet, and fruits cannot be over emphasised.
“Fruits that have red colour are good for your eyes, because they tend to contain bitter carotene: carrots, watermelon, and green leafy vegetables.”
Reacting to attitude of Nigerians to screening, Tijani described the health seeking-attitude of Nigerians as very poor. She outlined that people are scared to find out what is detected.
The Clinical In-charge, Dr. Ranojit Basu, also echoed Tijani’s words on their mission in Nigeria.
“Our mission is to give holistic approach to ophthalmology. We take holistic approach in diabetes. Our aim is to achieve preventable blindness in many diseases”, he added.
Giving statistic that about 1.13 million Nigerians are blind, and 3 million visually impaired people, Basu said, “The leading cause is cataract. There are other killer eye disease like glaucoma.”
As an eye expert, who specialises on blindness in children, the clinical In-charge said they are trying to do paediatric cataracts here in Nigeria.
“Children also have cataracts; it is complex to deal with. I’m associated with abysmas (correction of crossed eyes),” he stressed.
In the words of the Retina Consultant, Dr. Zeenat Shah, there is continuous need for more awareness, and screening on preventive measures.
She said, “We create awareness to help people prevent blindness. I have come across over 20 people who have diabetes that leads to blindness. It is preventable if detected early.”
