By Adadareporters
President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate upgrade of health facilities at some university teaching hospitals across the geopolitical zones of the country.
According to Mr Ajuri Ngelale, the president’s adviser on media and publicity, upgrading health infrastructure and equipment is a top priority of President Tinubu’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
He said to this end, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in collaboration with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) would carry out comprehensive upgradation of cancer-treatment infrastructure and other critical developments in six tertiary hospitals across several geopolitical zones, in addition to the full renovation and expansion of prior investments to improve broad-based access to high-quality healthcare in all the six geo-political zones of the federation.
The teaching hospitals marked for the establishment of oncology and nuclear medicine centres per facility are the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, University of Nigeria (Nsukka) Teaching Hospital, Federal Teaching Hospital, Katsina; University of Jos Teaching Hospital, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital.
The following critical health care service expansion projects across the fields of radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology, and cardiac catheterization will be carried out in 10 hospitals across all geo-political zones:
North-West: Reference Hospital, Kaduna — (Radiology, clinical pathology, medical and radiation oncology); South-East: Medical Diagnostic Centre Complex, Enugu — (Radiology, clinical pathology, medical & radiation oncology); North-West: Usman Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto — (Diagnostic and intervention radiology, clinical pathology, and cardiac catheterization); South-West: University College Hospital, Ibadan — (Diagnostic and intervention radiology, clinical pathology, and cardiac catheterization); South-South: University of Uyo Teaching Hospital — (Radiology and clinical pathology); North-East: Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi — (Radiology and clinical pathology); South-South: Federal Medical Centre, Asaba — (Radiology and clinical pathology); North-Central: Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Complex, Ilorin — (Radiology and clinical pathology); North-Central: Jos University Teaching Hospital — (Radiology and clinical pathology); and North-East: Federal Medical Centre, Nguru — (Radiology and clinical pathology).
These critical projects, set to be delivered within 12-18 months, according to Ngelale, will improve screening and diagnostics for communicable and non-communicable diseases; reduce mortality rates and improve outcomes for non-communicable diseases; create considerable employment opportunities for clinical, administrative, and managerial personnel across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, while building the capacity of clinical personnel in advanced procedures, diagnostics and treatment modalities, in accordance with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
