By Our Correspondent<\/p>\n
A state-of-the-art physiotherapy and rehabilitation centre equipped with advanced treatment technology has been inaugurated in Abuja on Monday, with its promoters saying the facility will expand access to specialised care, reduce dependence on medical tourism and support efforts to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s healthcare system.<\/p>\n
Commissioning the facility, the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Samaila Mera, said the investment would improve access to quality physiotherapy and rehabilitation, enabling more Nigerians to receive specialised treatment locally instead of travelling abroad.<\/p>\n
Speaking after touring the centre, the traditional ruler said the clinic houses equipment comparable to what many Nigerians travel overseas to access.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlhamdulillah, glory be to God. I\u2019ve been around the clinic and what I saw is really pleasing. Most of what we see and experience when we go outside for treatments like this is here now and I believe this will go a long way in providing cheaper and warmer care to Nigerians from all walks of life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proprietor mentioned he\u2019s doing this with the intention of supporting and helping every Nigerian get access to recover from a stroke, pain or whatever they suffer from as easily and cheaply as possible, and the care they provide here is one that is very difficult to access outside.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people cannot even walk, some cannot stand. It takes a long time to get permission to travel from embassies and also from the airlines. Having a centre like this in Abuja and hopefully closer to our states is a wonderful opportunity for all Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with what I saw and I believe we are turning the page for all Nigerians to receive the care we need within the shortest time and at the cheapest possible rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Registrar of the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Registration Board of Nigeria, Prof. Ahmad Alkali, said the facility would complement ongoing government efforts to bridge gaps in physiotherapy and rehabilitation across the country.<\/p>\n
He disclosed that Nigeria recently completed a national assessment under the World Health Organisation\u2019s Rehabilitation 2030 programme, which revealed significant deficiencies in service delivery.<\/p>\n
According to him, the Federal Government is expanding access to rehabilitation by integrating the services into primary healthcare while strengthening secondary and tertiary health facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria has just completed the process of situation assessment and what was found was that there\u2019s a very huge gap in service delivery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government is doing its best to expand the services by increasing the number of secondary and tertiary hospitals and also implementing the integration of rehabilitation into primary healthcare, which is going to help identify people at the grassroots who need those services and refer them to secondary and tertiary facilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut because the number is huge, the public facilities alone will not be able to cater for everyone. Therefore, this centre is going to complement what government has done in providing services when people come to the secondary and tertiary levels of care. So this is a very wonderful development.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate what has been done because what has been invested here, if invested in other businesses, could probably have produced double or triple the profit. But investing in health means the person has humanity in mind and that\u2019s very commendable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Founder and Managing Director of NOHSONIC Physiotherapy Clinic, Dr. Kingsley Nwankwo, said the project was established to enable Nigerians access world-class physiotherapy and rehabilitation without travelling overseas.<\/p>\n
He said inadequate access to modern equipment has remained a major challenge despite the availability of skilled physiotherapists in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cNOHSONIC is something that I\u2019m passionate about. It\u2019s a dream that I\u2019ve lived for years and to the glory of God it\u2019s coming to fruition now.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day of my life I meet people with one disability or another and it gives us concern\u2014not because of lack of expertise, but because of inadequate equipment and limited options for improving recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought, why not bring this equipment into Nigeria? We can rehabilitate patients comfortably here.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople suffer spinal injuries, disc problems and different kinds of pain. Instead of losing billions annually through medical tourism for services that can be provided here, let\u2019s bring them home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nwankwo also expressed concern over the migration of Nigerian physiotherapists, attributing the trend partly to limited access to modern technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cNigeria is producing lots of physiotherapists. Most of them are leaving the country probably because of inadequate equipment, and we\u2019re almost running short of manpower.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have this equipment here, we\u2019re going to attract more colleagues to stay back, learn these technologies, improve their practice and ultimately give the best care to patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing to us is patients, and NOHSONIC is open to every class of patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the centre houses nearly 100 specialised rehabilitation machines, including advanced laser therapy systems, electric traction beds, electronic tilt tables and other equipment for managing chronic pain, neurological disorders, stroke recovery and orthopaedic injuries.<\/p>\n
According to him, affordability remains central to the clinic\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n
\u201cNOHSONIC is open to every class of Nigerians and even non-Nigerians. We are affordable.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery treatment room is independently equipped to serve its purpose. We are well prepared and open to receive patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nwankwo added that the organisation would provide discounted treatment for its first 50 registered patients, organise periodic wellness outreach for senior citizens and implement injury-prevention programmes for young people as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives.<\/p>\n
He said the initiative reflects the organisation\u2019s commitment to improving healthcare delivery while discouraging the growing reliance on medical tourism for specialised physiotherapy services.<\/p>\n
The facility is expected to complement ongoing government efforts to expand rehabilitation services, improve access to specialised physiotherapy, retain skilled professionals and reduce the growing reliance on overseas treatment among Nigerians requiring advanced rehabilitation care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent A state-of-the-art physiotherapy and rehabilitation centre equipped with advanced treatment technology has been inaugurated in Abuja on Monday, with its promoters saying the facility will expand access to specialised care, reduce dependence on medical tourism and support efforts to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s healthcare system. Commissioning the facility, the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Samaila […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16259"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16266,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16259\/revisions\/16266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}