Dr.
Oluwatoyin Smith, 53, is the National Coordinator of the National Blood
Transfusion Service, Abuja. The indigene of Ibadan South West Local
Government Area in Oyo State shares her passion with BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA
Could you relive your days at school?
My dad was a pioneer career diplomat and
this afforded my siblings and I a great deal of exposure as we attended
schools in different cities. Primary school was interesting for me. I
attended St. Saviour’s Primary School in Ikoyi, Lagos. I had my
secondary school education (‘O’ Levels) at St. Louis Grammar School,
Mokola in Ibadan where I obtained my West African School Certificate in
1976. It was great fun generally and I made a sizeable number of good
friends with relationships that have lasted a long time. I was appointed
the Assistant Head Girl in my final year in the secondary school. I had
my ‘A’ levels at the International School, Ibadan, and obtained an
International Baccalaureate qualification which gave me placement at the
College of Medicine, University of Lagos Teaching Hospital in 1978
where I obtained a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree in
July 1983 and later obtained Masters in Public Health from the same
institution. I have very fond memories of my years in school and in the
College of Medicine at LUTH.
Would you describe yourself as very brilliant, having obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree?
Intelligent? Maybe. Obtaining the degree entails a lot of hard work, determination and the need to be focused.
What inspired you to study medicine?
The truth be told, my mother was a huge
influence. Left to me, I would have been a Bilingual Secretary (I loved
learning/speaking different languages). But to my mother, I wasn’t
having any of it. I did well in my science subjects, so she encouraged
me to take on Medicine or Dentistry. I was given admission to study
Medicine and the rest is history. Back then, it wasn’t such a big deal
to gain admission into undergraduate studies.
Many people dread the sight of human blood, have you ever had such experience?
Certainly. Now I get squeamish
sometimes, but back then in medical school, there was really no room to
give it a second thought. We would work on cadavers in the anatomy
laboratory for several hours a day at least three times in one week. We
just got on with it. Anyone who didn’t have it would not last very long.
How do you balance your official and domestic schedules?
It’s not easy at all particularly as the
rest of my family lives in Lagos which means I have to commute
frequently. There’s a lot of juggling going on, but it just means I have
to be organised and share my time both ways. By God’s grace, I am
married to an Accountant with three grown up children. I have been in
this profession since 1986, when I joined the Federal Ministry of Health
as a Medical Officer after successfully completing my NYSC. With good
understanding from my family, I have put in over 20 years of
progressively responsible clinical experience in general and tropical
medicine. I gained experience from working in the satellite clinics and
hospitals of the health ministry in Lagos and Abuja, among others. At a
point, I served as the departmental liaison coordinator for
international organisations like the World Health Organisation and the
West African Heath Organisation. I was appointed as the Project Manager
of a National Reproductive Health programme funded by the World Bank
where I got exposed to the implementation of donor-driven programmes.
Eventually, I was posted to the National Blood Transfusion Service in
January, 2011 as the Head of Clinical Services. I have God to thank for
His grace, strength and courage.
Do you think this is an area that more women should go into?
I think so. Women are generally
intuitive, observant and very caring. These are great attributes for any
medical doctor. It comes naturally to women to empathise and listen to
people talk about their problems, especially health challenges. This is
the kind of personality required in medical practice.
With 20 years of clinical experience in general and tropical medicine, will you say that you are fulfilled?
I’ll say yes to a reasonable extent. A
lot of work was done within a health system that isn’t very strong,
sometimes leaving you with a feeling of ‘how I wish I could have done
more’ or ‘if only this or that facility was available, someone’s life
might have been spared’ or ‘someone could have lived a better life.’
Overall, I want to believe that I have put a smile on quite a number of
faces.
What about the activities of the National Blood Transfision Service, particularly the problem of commercial donation of blood?
This is currently a huge problem for us
at the NBTS, most especially as it is not a source of safe blood (free
of blood-borne infections). Commercial donors donate for pecuniary
gains. They are not counselled, neither do they have to give an account
of their medical history, which will ordinarily reveal a risky
behavioural lifestyle and disqualify the donor. Should they continue to
donate unchecked, a lot of un-safe blood becomes available for
transfusion. This raises the risk of blood-borne infections like
HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and Syphilis. At the NBTS, every
potential donor undergoes a mini health check, gives an account of
his/her medical history and is counselled before the actual donation and
after. Eventually, only those who are eligible get to donate.
What is being done to tackle the problem of scarcity of blood in banks?
The NBTS has already established 17
centres nationwide. We are currently in the process of conducting Blood
Safety Stakeholders’ meetings at the zonal levels in all the six
geo-political zones to educate and guide relevant stakeholders in the
health sector in the states to develop their own Blood Safety Action
plans and to establish their own blood service centres. This platform is
expected to increase awareness on blood safety issues and the use of
EIA technology as the minimum standard for screening blood for
transfusion purposes among the states in the zone. Ultimately,
implementation of their action plans should address the problem of
scarcity of blood banks.
How can Nigerians be encouraged to donate blood?
The NBTS is the division in the
Department of Hospital Services of the Federal Ministry of Health with
the mandate to provide safe blood for transfusion purposes in Nigeria.
We can encourage blood donation through awareness creation, sustained
advocacy, education and public enlightenment campaigns. There are
deep-rooted cultural myths and misconceptions surrounding blood donation
in our environment and we have to continue to reassure people that once
blood is screened using sensitive technology such as ours, blood
transfusion will be safe. The electronic and print media have played a
big role in our public enlightenment campaign. We have also produced a
television documentary on the activities of NBTS. This has been aired on
national television a couple of times.
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