The 31-year old Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) has localized kidney transplant, with the complex medical process now being conducted by a team of Nigerian doctors.
The hospital has so far conducted 60 successful kidney transplants, the latest of which was in August 2019, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Professor Aminu Mohammed Zakari has said.
The CMD who served as the Chief Executive Officer of the reputable teaching hospital for two terms of eight years said that the only major challenge facing the kidney transplant programme of the hospital was Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) typing which is used to match patients and donors for kidney and other transplants.
The CMD stated this in a speech to set the tone for the 21st Dr. Abubakar Imam Memorial Lecture organised by the hospital in Kano over the weekend.
“The HLA tissue typing test which has been the greatest challenge for the programme since samples have to be taken abroad for testing has recently gotten a boost as a philanthropist and oil magnate Alhaji Awwalu A Rano has accepted to build a new molecular biology lab for the hospital for HLA typing and other molecular studies,” he disclosed.
Professor Zakari stated that the molecular laboratory would be fully equipped at the cost of N242 million by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as part of its corporate social responsibility.
Other important achievements of the hospital include the commissioning of “a new labour ward and special care baby unit with attached maternity theatre which has increased the bed capacity and facilities particularly in the special care baby unit,” he said.
The hospital manages 35,000 National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) enrollees, the highest in the country for a single heath institution. It has also introduced 24-hour service at the 40-bed medical retainership clinic to give the increasing number of patients who patronize it round the clock services.
“The Muhammadu Sunusi II radiodiagnostic center with a 160 slice CT scan machine has continued to record increased patronage and so far over 11,000 scans have been conducted,” the CMD declared.
