Akanimo Essiet, outgoing president of the International College of Surgeons (Nigeria), has urged members to actively participate in surgical outreach missions aimed at improving access to healthcare across the country.

Mr Essiet made the appeal in Abuja during the 58th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the College, which began on June 23 with a medical outreach programme.

He also called on members to renew their commitment to the Abuja headquarters building project.

While highlighting the college’s recent global achievements, Essiet warned that key domestic initiatives risk stagnation without stronger internal backing.

He urged members to take ownership of local projects, noting that efforts to secure external political support had yielded little result.

Mr Essiet encouraged fellows to emulate members of the college’s executive council by promptly paying project levies and participating actively in outreach missions.

Citing a recent example, he lamented that a Switzerland-supported surgical outreach in the North-Central in November 2024 failed to receive adequate volunteer support from ICS fellows.

“We must not only initiate our own outreach programmes but also support our international partners when they offer to collaborate,” he said.

Mr Essiet outlined several milestones, including Nigeria’s growing presence on the ICS global executive council and editorial board and the recent invitation to contribute to the international scientific committee for the 44th ICS Biennial Congress in Singapore.

Yahaya Adamu, the managing director of the Federal Medical Centre, Keffi, called for more active engagement of political actors in health policy to ensure expert recommendations lead to meaningful policy actions.

“We may have the knowledge, the expertise, and the will, but without political support, our efforts may amount to nothing,” he said. 

(NAN)