By Gabriel Ameh
Barely six months after its commissioning, the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) has recorded landmark medical achievements that are redefining access to specialised healthcare in Nigeria and across West Africa, moving the continent closer to world-class care delivered at home.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, AMCE Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Brian Deaver, said the centre has moved decisively from ambition to impact, delivering complex care that was previously unavailable within the region.
“Today, we are no longer speaking about plans, projections, or promises. We are speaking about care delivered, patients treated, and history made,” Deaver said.
According to the CEO, AMCE has successfully performed its first open-heart surgeries with outcomes exceeding international standards and delivered the first-ever stereotactic radiosurgery procedure in West Africa as a fully operational clinical service.
Deaver explained that AMCE was established not simply to build another hospital, but to address Africa’s long-standing gap in access to highly specialised care.
“Africa already has hospitals. What we have lacked, far too often, is access access to advanced technology, specialised expertise, and multidisciplinary care delivered reliably and safely, right here at home,” he noted.
He added that AMCE is steadily realising its vision of enabling patients in Abuja, Abidjan, Dakar, and Lomé to receive world-class treatment without crossing continents.
Providing insight into the centre’s clinical progress, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Aisha Umar, highlighted the rapid expansion of AMCE’s multidisciplinary services and the hospital’s unwavering commitment to patient safety and quality care.
“Our medical team is united by excellence, safety, and compassionate care,” Dr. Umar said, noting that AMCE has brought together specialists across cardiology, oncology, hematology, radiology, internal medicine, surgery, and critical care.
She disclosed that within just five weeks, AMCE’s cardiovascular team successfully conducted over ten interventional cardiac procedures, including coronary angiographies, pacemaker implantations, and primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).
This momentum, she said, culminated in the successful performance of the centre’s first elective open-heart surgery a Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) supported by a fully operational cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
This represents a major step forward in the availability of advanced cardiac care in Nigeria and across Africa,” Dr. Umar stated, adding that AMCE has since carried out additional open-heart surgeries.
On cancer care, the CMO revealed that AMCE now offers comprehensive oncology services covering prevention, early detection, diagnostics, chemotherapy support, and advanced radiotherapy, guided by a multidisciplinary tumour board that ensures evidence-based, patient-centred treatment planning.
She further noted steady progress in hematology services, including safer transfusion practices, advanced screening using nucleic acid testing, apheresis services, and preparations for stem cell transplantation scheduled to commence in 2026.
Speaking on a major oncology milestone, Clinical Director, Dr. Gabriel Boules, announced the launch of AMCE’s lung Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) programme, making the centre the first in West Africa to deliver a fully integrated, motion-managed SBRT service in line with international standards.
SBRT is one of the most advanced forms of radiation treatment available globally. It allows us to treat lung tumours with extreme precision while protecting healthy organs,” Dr. Boules explained.
He said the programme uses four-dimensional CT imaging, advanced image guidance, and rigorous motion-management protocols to target tumours with millimetre accuracy.
Dr. Boules revealed that the first SBRT patient an 83-year-old with early-stage lung cancer who was unsuitable for surgery received curative-intent treatment locally, eliminating the need for travel outside the region.
“This achievement reflects a coordinated, high-reliability system involving radiation oncologists, physicists, therapists, imaging specialists, and nursing teams operating under international clinical guidelines,” he said.
Looking ahead, Deaver reaffirmed AMCE’s commitment to expanding access to specialised care across Africa, scaling services, strengthening partnerships, and deepening clinical capacity.
What you are seeing today is not an endpoint. It is early evidence of a new chapter one where excellence in healthcare is built in Africa, sustained in Africa, and trusted in Africa,” the CEO concluded.
