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From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
The Chief Medical Director of Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital (AMSH), Ado-Ekiti, Dr Akinola Akinmade, has said that the hospital is beginning to reverse medical tourism to overseas as people from other countries are now visiting the hospital to access high-quality and affordable medical care.
Akinmade said the conventional flow of medical tourism where Nigerians leave the shores of the country to seek advanced medical care abroad is declining as patients from foreign land now come to AMSH to access high-quality healthcare services at subsidised rates compared to what is obtainable in foreign countries.
The CMD made the remarks at the weekend during a press conference held at the hospital in Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti State, where he
attributed the change in the trend to AMSH’s ability to deliver high quality and advanced medical procedures.
“We are now reversing medical tourism. The channel for medical tourism, the direction typically is outward. People leave here and go to New York and other countries for their procedures. But now, we are having patients who have seen the value, who have seen the quality of care that is available in Nigeria, in Afe Babalola University Multi-System Hospital and have seen that they can get it for a fraction of the amount that they would spend if they go outside the country.”
The CMD revealed that the hospital successfully completed 40 kidney transplant surgeries since 2024, hinting that the remarkable achievement has positioned AMSH as one of the leading renal transplant centres in Nigeria.
“As of today, AMSH has successfully completed a total of 40 kidney transplant surgeries, a remarkable achievement by any standard and one that places us among the leading transplant centres in Nigeria.
” Our outcomes remain outstanding, with a very high success rate, comparable to respected international centres. This reflects a strength of our surgical teams, our nephrology units, our critical care specialists, and the seamless collaboration across all hospital departments.”
Additionally, the CMD disclosed that AMSH has become a regional hub for advanced urological surgeries, complex urethral reconstruction and achieved successful completion of first penile implant surgery.
” Beyond renal transplantation, AMSH is fast becoming a regional hub for cutting -edge urological care. In recent months, we have successfully performed multiple Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP) procedures, a minimally invasive intervention for men with severe urinary obstruction. These surgeries were conducted with precision and produced excellent outcomes, reflecting our commitment to aligning with global standards of urological care.
“We are also entering a new phase of urological advancement with our preparations to perform complex urethral reconstruction surgeries.These surgeries are highly specialised and remain unavailable in many centres across West Africa. Our readiness to provide them positions AMSH
as a clinical and academic leader in advanced reconstruction urology.
“Also, this year, AMSH achieved another landmark in the successful completion of our first penile implant surgery. The patient, who had experienced longstanding erectile dysfunction, is now able to achieve an erection on demand, with full restoration of sexual and reproductive function. This milestone places AMSH among the few institutions in Nigeria capable of offering such advanced and transformative procedures.”
The medical expert also disclosed AMSH’s advancement in cardiac surgery, calling it an indigenous achievement.
“Another area of remarkable growth is our cardiac surgery program, which has undergone a historic revolution.
” When we performed our earliest open- heart surgeries, the procedures were led entirely by a foreign team. That era marked the beginning of a dream, to build Nigerian capacity for world-class cardiac surgery.
” Today, I am proud to announce that AMSH now has a fully indigenous cardiac surgical team performing complex procedures independently.”
The CMD lauded Marengo Asia Hospitals, India and the Program Clinical Director, Urology and Kidney Transplant Surgery, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Dr Rajiv Sood and his team for their supportive roles. He noted that AMSH’s partnership with Marengo Asia Hospitals strengthened local capacity and expanded AMSH’s ability to deliver complex, life-changing procedures.
“We continued to thrive through our collaboration with Marengo Asia Hospitals, whose partnership has strengthened local capacity and expanded our ability to deliver complex, life-changing procedures while simultaneously empowering Nigerian clinicians with advanced hands-on experience.”
He also commended the founder of AMSH, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN) for his visionary leadership and ascribed the achievement to the hospital’s professional teams.
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” This achievement stands as a powerful testament to what deliberate training, investment in local expertise, and visionary leadership can accomplish. It also validates our founder’s belief that Nigerian professionals, when given the right environment, can compete with and excel alongside the best in the world.”
The CMD added, ” AMSH is now one of the few centres in West Africa where Nigerian heart surgeons are confidently , safely and consistently performing high-level cardiac procedures. This is a national asset and a continental milestone.”
He also disclosed AMSH’s plans to introduce robotic surgery in urological procedures, in the hospital’s efforts to deliver more advanced healthcare interventions in the country.
He restated AMSH’s commitment to delivering excellence and making continental impact, “As we look toward 2026 and beyond, our ambition is to establish AMSH as the leading centre of excellence for renal, urological and cardiac care in Africa.
” We are building not just a hospital, but a model of what African healthcare can be: innovative, sustainable and globally competitive.”
Akinmade hailed the commencement of commercial flight operations at the
Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport, underscoring its importance to emergency healthcare needs.
” The airport provides a massive advantage to our people, generally speaking, beyond the issue of politicians and all that, in the sense that sometimes healthcare emergencies, they are time bound. There are some healthcare emergencies that must be attended to within a very, very narrow window of time.
“And in the past, this would have been impossible. I will give you an example. A patient who has a myocardial infarction, which means that a part of the heart is not receiving blood flow, should get to the catheterisation lab here within 120 minutes.
“Imagine you are in Sokoto or somewhere and you have a heart attack and you need a cardiac intervention and you have to travel by road to Ado-Ekiti. That is a mortality already. But the presence of the airport gives us the ability to bring in such a patient and bring care to the patient immediately.
“When our politicians are thinking, I think it will be to their advantage that they also think about these types of scenarios. It is not in every case that they will be able to fly to Dubai or fly to America to get healthcare. There will be certain emergencies that are life-threatening, that will require immediate care, that is available in places like this only.
“And so, if our politicians develop such centres in every part of the country, then it will be to our own collective advantage.”
The Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda Olarinde, in her address, praised Aare Afe Babalola,for his huge investment in the health system. She also hailed AMSH for the remarkable milestone recorded, urging it to continue to deliver quality and world -class medical procedures and curbing medical tourism abroad.
The VC also commended Marengo Asia Hospitals, India, Dr Rajiv Sood and his medical team for collaborating with the hospital.
The Program Clinical Director, Urology and Kidney Transplant Surgery, Marengo Asia Hospitals, Dr Rajiv Sood, lauded AMSH for its 24-hour operations.
While commending Aare Afe Babalola for equipping the hospital with ultra-modern medical facilities and providing medical services at subsidised amounts to patients, Sood revealed that a female Nigerian patient has travelled from New York, in the United States, to the hospital, for a surgery.
“There is a clear difference between travelling economy class and business class. In both cases, you eventually arrive at your destination, but the experience is not the same. What we are saying here is that Nigerians are being offered business-class quality of service at economy-class rates in ABUAD hospital. That is the difference,” he noted.
