Frederick Foundation, UI, UCH move to strengthen stroke care

A nongovernmental organisation, the Frederick Foundation, a nongovernmental organization, in partnership with the University of Ibadan (UI) and the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, has launched a major initiative to strengthen stroke care, research, and medical education in Nigeria.

The partnership, formally inaugurated in Ibadan, aims to improve stroke treatment and outcomes, strengthen the capacity of healthcare professionals, and promote research into the prevention and management of the disease.

Established in December 2023 by Oxford Emeritus Professor of Neuropathology Margaret Esiri in memory of her late husband, Dr Frederick Esiri, the foundation also aims to strengthen academic collaboration between the University of Ibadan and the University of Oxford.

Speaking at the inauguration, Professor Esiri said the initiative was inspired by her late husband’s commitment to improving healthcare in Nigeria.

Dr Esiri, a Nigerian and Oxford medical graduate, returned to Nigeria in 1981 and operated a health clinic in Taraba State for more than 20 years.

Professor Esiri stated that the foundation would collaborate with UI, UCH, and Oxford University to strengthen stroke services and reduce mortality, while creating opportunities for medical students through a reciprocal exchange programme.

She said the foundation’s immediate priority was to improve stroke care outcomes in Ibadan and build a sustainable academic partnership between the medical schools of UI and Oxford.

As part of its early interventions, she disclosed that a seven-member clinical team from Ibadan had visited the Stroke Unit at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the United Kingdom to observe its operations and learn from its approach to stroke management.

The visit, she said, was supported by educational webinars designed to assess how improved nursing and therapy practices could influence patient survival and recovery.

Building on this initiative, Professor Esiri stated that the foundation had introduced a reciprocal clinical neuroscience student exchange programme, with two medical students each from UI and Oxford participating to advance education and research.

She also stressed the importance of prevention, calling for increased attention to healthy lifestyles, stronger government support for stroke services, and broader access to quality treatment, particularly in low-resource settings.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan and chairman of the occasion, Professor Kayode Adebowale, described the initiative as a transformation of personal loss into a legacy of hope.

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Adebowale stated that stroke care in Africa continues to face serious challenges, including limited access to neuroimaging, restricted availability of specialised therapies, delayed patient presentation, and inadequate standardised treatment protocols.

He said the collaboration would aim to address these gaps and develop practical interventions that could be replicated throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to him, the decision to make UI the anchor institution reflects its longstanding contributions to medical education and research in West Africa.

The Vice-Chancellor disclosed that a clinical neurosciences medical student exchange programme between UI and Oxford had been approved, with Professors Godwin Ogbole and Rufus Akinyemi playing key roles in establishing the academic partnership.

He said the collaboration would extend beyond student exchange to strengthening acute stroke services at UCH, developing standardised clinical workflows, and supporting research aimed at producing solutions applicable to resource-limited healthcare systems.

Also speaking, the Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Professor Taiwo Lawal, who represented the Provost of the College of Medicine, Professor Temidayo Ogundiran, stated that the partnership would provide opportunities for academic collaboration, clinical training, and research.

The foundation has awarded four travel grants to medical students from UI and Oxford to date.

Plans are also underway to establish an acute stroke unit at UCH, Ibadan, as part of efforts to enhance the hospital’s capacity to provide specialised stroke care.