Dion Morton, Professor of Colorectal Surgery at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, claims that 25,000 surgeons worldwide are working together to improve patient care.
Morton revealed this on the sidelines of his speech at the 18th Annual Scientific Conference and Gathering of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The theme was “Impact of Collaborative Research: The Reach, The Research, and The Riches,” and it was held in Lagos on Friday.
He stated that the event was centred on teamwork and that he was happy to be a part of a global collaboration of surgeons.
“It is the largest research collaboration in the world today.” It is made up of over 25,000 surgeons who are working together to improve patient care.
“Their work is important and timely because it represents patients in South America, Central America, Africa, and India.”
“And because we can demonstrate the benefits and improvements in care around the world, they are relevant to all patients,” he added.
Morton, the event’s guest speaker, said there was a significant need for developing surgery, adding, “to grow surgery across the world and provide care for patients, we need to provide research and evidence to support it.”
According to him, there are currently not enough surgeons in Sub-Saharan Africa, preventing many patients from obtaining safe surgery.
Prof. Adesoji Ademuyiwa of the University of Lagos’ College of Medicine, speaking at the event, stated that clinical scientists might transition from research to practise.
The conference’s subject, according to Ademuyiwa, is “The Impacts of Collaboration on Clinical Research: Local Experiences in Genomics Research.”
He stated that there was a wealth of material and evidence available for clinical scientists to work with, emphasising that many academics from his university’s Faculty of Clinical Sciences were participating in research.
“When the research findings are published, they must be translated into practise, and the government is expected to fashion them into policy,” he said.
Ademuyiwa, who is also the Director of the National Institute of Health-funded Centre for Global Surgery, stated that clinical scientists were considering how to collaborate to develop high-quality research that would eventually be put into practise.
Prof Osaretin Ebuehi, Deputy Provost, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, also emphasised the importance of collaboration between doctors and business scientists in the field of research.
Ebuehi stated that this was important in order to do high-impact research that would contribute to national growth and garner worldwide renown. (NAN)
