Stakeholders are additionally calling for the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to establish a dedicated Department of Medical Rehabilitation. Another proposal is the construction of medical rehabilitation facilities across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

The objective is to improve patients’ independence and everyday functioning rather than concentrating rehabilitation predominantly in a limited number of specialist facilities. The initiative reflects growing recognition that rehabilitation is an essential component of healthcare for people recovering from injuries and illnesses as well as those living with disabilities.

Major Concerns Exist

Experts at the programme stressed that successful medical treatment does not necessarily mean a patient has completely recovered their ability to participate in everyday life. A person may survive an illness or receive successful treatment for an injury but still struggle to walk, communicate, work, attend school, pick up objects or perform other routine activities.

Modern rehabilitation attempts to bridge that gap.

Registrar of the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board, Prof. Rufai Yusuf Ahmad, explained that rehabilitation focuses on optimising a patient’s ability to function within their environment after an injury or medical condition. Assistive technology becomes necessary when complete restoration of a lost function is not possible, enabling the individual to compensate and achieve greater independence.

The broader approach means rehabilitation can involve physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, rehabilitation physicians, prosthetists, psychologists, nurses and social workers rather than being treated simply as another name for physiotherapy.