The University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) has successfully performed its second living-donor kidney transplant, marking a major medical milestone for the federal institution.
The surgery was carried out 15 years after the hospital's first successful kidney transplant, which took place in 2010.
Professor Ahmed Ahidjo, the Chief Medical Director of UMTH, announced the achievement at a news conference, stating that the hospital is now fully prepared to resume the procedure. According to him, the hospital has a list of 20 patients currently awaiting kidney transplant surgery.
Ahidjo emphasized the hospital's commitment to making the transplant procedure affordable. He noted that as a federal government facility, many services are provided for free, while patient dialysis has been subsidized to ₦12,000, a fraction of the cost elsewhere. The hospital's goal is to make kidney transplants at UMTH among the cheapest in West Africa.
The CMD also commended Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, for donating ₦50 million to the hospital for research into kidney diseases in the North-East. Initial research findings have linked the high prevalence of kidney disease in the region to factors such as diabetes, hypertension, and dehydration.
UMTH, which Ahidjo described as the largest facility of its kind in the country, has four fully equipped theatre rooms dedicated to kidney transplants and the capacity to accommodate up to 85 patients at a time. The hospital also acknowledged the support of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) for its contributions to equipment and infrastructure.
