Nigerian govt committed to boosting surgical research in tertiary institutions

On Thursday, the Federal Government said it would boost surgical research in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
The Director, Health Planning, Research and Statistics of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Kamil Soretire, disclosed this in Lagos at the annual meeting of the National Institute of Health Research, Global Surgery Unit (NIHR GSU).

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NIHR GSU meeting is an international event that provides a platform for leading experts, researchers and practitioners in the field of global surgery to discuss and chart ways for improved surgical care.

The theme of the 2025 conference is: “Equipping Surgeons for Surgical Research – Role of Regulatory Instructions.”

Mr Soretire said the ministry associates with NIHR GSU initiatives to boost surgical research in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

“Most of the centres that are involved in surgical research are either Federal Medical Centres or Federal Teaching Hospitals with few state-owned health institutions,” he said.

“This is very good for the ministry because it shows that both federal and state governments are collaborating and building capacity for research.”

Adesoji Ademuyiwa, a director of the NIHR GSU, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, said that the theme of the 2025 conference is apt.

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Mr Ademuyiwa said research, particularly clinical research, is an enterprise that requires interactions with patients.
He noted that in surgical research, lives are at stake and there are many risks but it is important for it to be done for the patients’ benefit.

The professor of pediatric surgery added that in this kind of research, it is important to have regulations in place.
He noted that, due to the regulatory authorities’ input, surgeons are now more careful to ensure that the level of research they conduct in Nigeria is high-level research, generating the best evidence possible.

Mr Ademuyiwa said these researches are called randomised control trials, and they require approval from both the National Health Ethics Research Committee and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control before they are conducted.

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“Surgeons decided that if they are going to meet up with the requirements of surgical research, it is best to have the regulatory bodies train them to conduct high-level research,” he said.

Also, Wasiu Adeyemo, chief medical director, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said the conference is all about training surgeons to be researchers.

Mr Adeyemo, represented by the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee, Rufus Ojewola, said the essence of the conference is not for surgeons to focus on one aspect of their responsibilities alone.

He explained that LUTH is the hub of the surgical research network, where most of the activities are coordinated.
(NAN)