By Deborah Hassan
365Daily– The Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa, will on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, commission a multi-billion naira advanced medical diagnostic centre built by the Sokoto State Government.
He will be assisted by his host, Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal and other government dignitaries and officials of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).
This was disclosed by the Commissioner For Health, Dr. Ali Inname, in a press statement issued on Monday, November 29, 2021.
He added that Governor Okowa, who is a medical doctor, is visiting Sokoto to take part in a meeting of the NMA holding in the state.
The Commissioner explained that the facility is world-class and a milestone in the history of medical diagnosis in Nigeria.
Dr. Inname said the centre is a state-of-the art medical equipment that has a Radiology Unit, Laboratory Unit, Out-patient Clinics, Dental Unit, and ENT Unit.
He added: “It will offer a variety of services, including Medical Investigations, Radiological Investigations, and Laboratory Investigations.
“It has provision for ECG, Stress ECG, Echocardiography, and Vascular Doppler, Gastrology, Endoscopy, Neurology, and EEG.
“It also has extensive capacity for MRI, CT scan, Fluoroscopy, Digital X-ray, Mammography, Chemical Pathology, Histopathology, Microbiology, and Hematology.
“Already, medical consultants, medical officers, laboratory scientists/technicians, nurses and other personnel required for the smooth running of the centre are being hired.
“For efficiency, the centre will be managed by Healthfield Medical Services Ltd, through a public-private partnership model.
“The project was executed for approximately N3.2billion, with about N824million spent on construction and N2.4billion expended on equipping the centre.
“Katuru and Partners Limited handled construction while Minjiriya Medical Services Limited executed the supply and installation of diagnostic equipment.
“The centre will provide high-quality cutting edge medical diagnostics services for the people of Sokoto, other Nigerians and nationals of neighbouring countries.
“A staggering number of Nigerians seek healthcare services abroad, it has been reported that 5,000 Nigerians travel overseas for medical treatment monthly, with an estimated bill of over $1 billion annually.
“This has been as a result of non-availability of advanced healthcare technology in our health facilities,” Dr. Inname said.
Speaking further, he noted that “there are 860 public and private health facilities in Sokoto State. For this number of health facilities to provide effective services for a population of over 5 million in the state, they must adopt advanced technologies that are used globally.
“Because of this consideration, the Sokoto State Government under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal designed, constructed and equipped this new Advanced Medical Diagnostics Centre to provide high-quality cutting edge medical diagnostics services comparable to any other place in the world.
“The overall objective here is to provide healthcare services for our people and make Sokoto a hub for medical tourism, so the services provided by the centre are designed in such a way that they are affordable to the people.”