An Indian medical expert, Saravanan Arimuthu, has praised the high success rate of surgical procedures done in India as one of the major drivers of India-Nigeria medical relations.
Arimuthu, a Pharmacist and Country Head, Max Healthcare India in Nigeria, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Saturday that whether in terms of academy, research or clinical work, both countries had a lot of opportunities to move forward and work together.
The medical practitioner stressed the importance of strengthening bilateral relations in healthcare, adding that in the fight against the pandemic, India continued to donate millions of vaccines.
According to him, India continues to receive an increased number of international patients because of the 96 to 100 per cent success rate and also the affordability of medical procedures.
“Max Healthcare India is affordable to all Nigerian patients. We perform most popular procedures including bone marrow transplant, oncology surgeries, spine surgeries, brain tumour removal, among others.
“The cost of kidney transplant in India is roughly five million naira and we don’t hesitate to refer patients with complex procedures because we understand certain facts on treatments that are not happening in Nigeria.
“However, the only challenges we’ve been having are as a result of the pandemic and issues related to the exchange rate, but we are doing our best to give our patients all the support they need,” he said.
NAN reports that recently, Max Healthcare conducted free health checks for about 72 people at the Indian High Commission in Lagos.
Arimuthu, noting that Max Healthcare was one of India’s largest healthcare organisations, said the facility had no waiting time and a total capacity of about 4,800 doctors.
He said that another way through which both countries could work together was in terms of capacity building, knowledge and skills transfer.
“India and Nigeria’s relations in healthcare keeps proving fruitful as many Nigerian doctors and professors come to India regularly either as guest speakers or to receive honours.
“The same is also the case with Indian doctors visiting Nigeria to promote medical relations,” he said
