Neurosurgeons have called for education of Nigerians on how to handle victims of road accidents to reduce cases of spinal cord injuries in Nigeria.

They spoke at the Holistic Round Table Group Discussion on Tuesday in Ibadan, to mark the 2021 World Spinal Cord Injury Day observed every September 5.

The event was organised by the Department of Neurological Surgery, Institute of Neurosciences, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.

Prof. Adefolarin Malomo, a Neurosurgeon at UCH, said there was need to educate Nigerians on how to handle victims of accidents, especially road accidents to reduce the cases from 20,000 being recorded yearly in Nigeria.

Malomo said that mishandling of accident victims formed the larger percentage of spinal cord injuries in the country.

He said that there had been a lot of improvements from the health workers taking care of patients with spinal cord injury.

According to him, this is in the involvement of a multi-disciplinary holistic approach, which takes care of every aspect of the patient’s life.

“Nigeria has improved in quite a number of ways; we now have more plastic surgeons, more orthopaedic surgeons, neurological surgeons and more specialised nurses.

“The most important thing is to prevent this condition. We are unenlightened and we forget that we are responsible for ourselves and the environment that makes us.

“Some schools are doing it, but all schools should train students about civic and personal responsibilities, as well as participating where they found themselves,” the expert said.

Another Neurosurgeon, Prof. Amos Adeleye, said the care of spinal cord injury was to prevent it from happening so as not to face the hard facts of life.

“People should have information about spinal cord injury, because when it happened, it is an injury for lifetime.

“But, if it is a partial injury, there is hope for recovery,” Adeleye said.

Also, Dr. Olayinka Olawoye, a Consultant Plastic Surgeon, called for increased funding in the health sector to provide facilities that would cater for patients with spinal cord injury.

In her remarks, an Assistant Director of Nursing in UCH and a Clinical Nurse, Mrs. Mary Oyebamiji, said that so much go into the care of patients with spinal cord injury; emotional, psychological and spiritual, alongside medical services.

Oyebamiji said that lack of family support for patients by loved ones makes recovery difficult, hence the need for educating people on facts about taking care of patients with spinal cord injury.

Also, Mr. Bamgboye Okanlawon, the National Executive Co-ordinator, Road Accident Information and Rescue Organisation, said there was need for training of rescue personnel on how to handle victims of road accidents to reduce cases of spinal cord injury.

“The challenge is when unqualified personnel or unskilled people tried to rescue victims of road crashes.

“They normally drag victims, which increases chances of spinal cord injury,” Okanlawon said.

Commenting, a Clinical Psychologist, Mr. Damola Ilesanmi, said that every aspect of patients’ recovery was important to adjusting to the new life.

A spinal cord injury patient at UCH, Mr Olanrewaju Ajibola, said that there should be an enabling environment to make life more comfortable for victims of spinal cord injury.

Ajibola said that combination of health professionals aided his recovery.

He called on the government to provide job opportunities for the physically challenged people