…as experts mark maiden edition of endocrine day at University of Ibadan
The Professor and Head of Endocrine Unit, Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Ibadan, Professor Kehinde S. Akinlade, has decried the continued emigration of bright students from the department and the country, and called on the government to take steps to reverse this.
Professor Akinlade spoke on Thursday at the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the maiden edition of Endocrine Day organised by the Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Ibadan, held at the Otunba Balogun Conference Centre in the university.
At the event with the theme: “Endocrine Practice in Developing Countries”, Akinlade said he was happy that his colleagues thought it fit to organise the Endocrine Day during which he was the guest of honour, and expressed the hope that it would be a continuous celebration because of the importance of endocrinology to human health.
He said: “I’m happy that my colleagues had thought it fit to organise this, the maiden edition of Endocrine Day. I sincerely hope it is going to be a continuous thing, every year the Endocrine Day is going to be celebrated. My retirement was incorporated into the Endocrine Day celebration and I hope that this celebration will continue. Every year, all of us will come together and talk about endocrinology.”
Speaking on the department he would be retiring from in a few weeks, Professor Akinlade expressed sadness that government was leaving so many things undone in the health and education sectors, saying “I am not seeing a solid department, things were better when we joined earlier in our career and there was a lot of cooperation and there was a lot of work being done.”
However, he expressed worries that “along the line, lecturers are not being replaced, they are retiring but are not being replaced. Many of the younger ones are leaving the system to travel abroad because there is poor funding for research, training and service. Things are not as good as one would have liked it to be. We are just praying and hoping that things will get better.”
Akinlade however expressed the hope that “with people like Associate Professor Mabel Charles Davies around we know that the future will be great by God’s grace.”
Speaking on the rationale behind the celebration, Dr Charles-Davies said Endocrine Day was organised by his mentees to honour Professor Akinlade as he is retiring next month and said they hoped it would become bigger and culminate into making the society understand the importance of endocrinology.
Earlier, Professor Olufemi Fasanmade of the Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Lagos and an honourary Consultant Physician/Endocrinologist, delivered a lecture entitled: “Advances in Monitoring Glycemic Control”
Chairman of the occasion, Professor Adesoji Fasanmade, a Consultant Physician (Endocrinologist) and retired Professor of Physiology and Medicine, congratulated Prof Akinlade and commended the Department of Chemical Pathology and Dr. Charles-Davies for making the dream of having Endocrine Day come true.
The Chief Host and Head of the Department of Chemical Pathology, Professor John Anetor, while welcoming guests described the event as momentous and expressed happiness at the number of high quality contributors assembled for the maiden edition of Endocrine Day.
He said it was an opportunity to draw people’s attention to the value of the endocrine system for the effective management of endocrine disorders, especially diabetes.
Prof Anetor congratulated Prof Akinlade for what he had done for endocrinology and described him as one of the last Titans in the field.