The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, has been  rated the best teaching hospital in terms of research activities in Africa based on the Scimago Institutions Rankings 2011 World Report.

The Scimago Institutions Rankings 2011 World Report, which seeks to reveal main aspects of research size, performance, impart and internationalisation in 3,042 institutions from 104 countries, covered a period of 2005 to 2009. These countries included South Africa, Ghana, Cameroun, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Kenya and Botswana.

In the survey, which ranked University of Ibadan first in terms of its research activities, followed by Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and University of Lagos as second and third respectively, the teaching hospital, aside coming seventh in the overall rating for institution in Nigeria, was the only hospital acknowledged for its innovative and internationally-acclaimed research activities on the continent.

The task, which was carried out by a mix of computer and human means, used six criteria in ranking the institutions that included nine from Nigeria, 20 from South Africa, eight from Tunisia,  six from Algeria, four from Morocco, as well as two each from Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana.

One institution each was involved in other African countries namely Senegal, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Uganda, Cameroun, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire and Botswana.

The criteria used in the rating included institution scientific impact, thematic specialisation, output size and international collaboration networks of the institutions as well as specialisation index which indicate the specialisation profiles of the institutions and the excellence rate (the ability of the institution to produce best quality papers among their output).

Professor Temitope Alonge, the Chief Medical Director, UCH, Ibadan, in a reaction to the ratings,  stated that it was a reflection of the hospital’s excellence in research activities in the country.

According to him, “this is a big plus for UCH because it is the only hospital that is ranked in sub-Saharan Africa and in Nigeria. There are one or two others hospitals in other countries, but in Nigeria, UCH is the first and only one on the list.”

Professor Alonge, who remarked that there was reward for hard work, said the hospital from the first quarter of this year, was committing a sum of N3million to research activities from its internally generated revenue to more research activities.

He stated that there would be three different groups of research grants- a N1 million multidisciplinary research grant; two collaborative research groups to take N500,000 each; four individualised research activities for resident doctors  to the tune of N250,000 and  another four individualised  research activities for consultant doctors also to the tune of N250,000.

Professor Alonge assured that, with encouraging outcomes from the research grants for resident doctors, the institution might consider increasing its dedicated fund for research to N4 million.

He declared that the resident doctors were to be greater benefactors of the research grants because they were the future of medical practice in the country and, as such, the earlier they got accustomed to scientific research, the better for the future of the country.

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