By Anayo Okoli
ENUGU- THE Coordinating Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, on Thursday, said that President Bola Tinubu has been channelling the savings from the removal of oil subsidy to the health sector and other critical sectors.
Pate said this while commissioning an additional Linear Accelerator and Oncology infrastructure upgrade at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH, Ituku-Ozala, Enugu.
Pate, who represented President Tinubu, was accompanied by his counterparts, the Minister for Finance and Economy, Wale Edun, and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris. said that the Federal Government was making huge investments in the health sector to tackle medical tourism.
According to him, cancer is the major sickness that takes Nigerians outside the country to seek a cure, saying that with the huge investment the federal government is channelling to battle it, Nigerians and outsiders will be accessing good treatment of the sickness locally.
“Oncology is number one cause for medical tourism. With these facilities in Enugu, Katsina. Benin, and others coming in other states, Nigerians will have high-quality facilities to treat cancer patients.”, Pate said.
He also took out time to address doctors on internship at the hospital who protested the poor payment they are receiving.
“I listened to them and assured them that their matter would be addressed. We will be doing our best to ensure that there are better days for our health workers. We will continue to motivate them. We are finding solutions for all our outstanding problems; we will not make excuses”, the health minister assured.
Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, represented by his deputy, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, thanked the federal government for upgrading the oncology department in UNTH and urged them to bring more health facilities to the institution as they have more vast land to accommodate them.
Ossai, also charged the management of UNTH to judiciously manage the new facilities to the benefit of patients.
Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Prof. Obinna Onodugo, described the ceremony as “a significant milestone in our institution’s history.”
“This new Linear Accelerator will undoubtedly enhance our cancer treatment capabilities, allowing us to provide precise and effective radiation therapy to our patients.
“This infrastructure investment demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to enhancing our status as the centre of excellence in cancer treatment, and of course, improving healthcare services in the South East Region.
“It is also worth mentioning that this project came with several other things, like a water treatment plant, CT Scan machine, furniture, and many others, which have significantly improved our diagnostic and treatment capacities in the centre.
“This development will surely reduce medical tourism and provide quality healthcare services to the people of South East Nigeria and beyond.
“Our institution will continue to maintain its position as a leading healthcare provider in cancer treatment and other specialised services. We will strive for excellence, leveraging these new facilities to provide world-class care to our patients
“Let me quickly tell our august visitors that here in UNTH, we have a lot of land, begging to be used. We are therefore very open to receiving so many more facilities that will further touch the lives of numerous Nigerians in this region and far beyond.
“Recently, through the UNTH Ventures, we are starting a big integrated farming project that includes crop and animal farming. We believe this will improve our outlook, while we further utilise the vast land available to us. It will also improve our security situation.
“Again, to mention that most of our staff come to work from Enugu, which is not so close to this hospital. This has many adverse effects on service provision in the hospital. Consequently, still thinking out of the box, we recently embarked on a grand housing project, that will accommodate up to 1000 of our staff. Working with the Ministries of Health, Finance, Justice, and Works, we have got the consent letter from ICRC to advertise for the housing project so that private estate investors could come and develop 1000 housing units, which will house our staff here in the hospital premises.”
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