By Emmanuella Oghenetega
The Federal Government has commissioned ultra-modern medical equipment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC,) Jabi, Abuja.
This is to strengthen it’s efforts to make quality healthcare services accessible and affordable for Nigerians.
This was disclosed by the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, during his official visit and commissioning of the ultramodern clinical services building and ward extension complex.
A statement signed by Alaba Balogun, Head, Information and Public Relations, revealed that Dr. Salako in his keynote address, highlighted that the provision of the well-equipped 64-bedded facility and a new ultra modern clinical services building featuring a dedicated renal unit with 18 hemodialysis beds aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agenda.
While explaining the commitment of the present administration to invest heavily in the health sector, the Minister of State stated that the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi is an exemplar of government’s determination to reverse the direction of medical tourism.
“With these new additions, the tertiary health care system in our country is being strengthened and the need to travel outside the country for some critical care service like kidney transplantation is being addressed”; Dr. Salako added.
Emphasizing the critical importance of effective and accessible healthcare by Nigerians, he further asserted that the federal government’s initiative to make dialysis care more affordable was yielding positive outcomes.
“The government last year commenced an initiative to bring down the cost of dialysis by about 80% in 10 selected federal tertiary health Institutions across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country.
“Going forward, the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi is now a good candidate to join the implementation of this initiative”.
Elaborating further, Dr. Salako added that though a temporary measure, the affordability challenge around health care services will be more sustainably addressed via other deliberate initiatives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the health sector.
These, he stated, included unlocking the value chain, removal of tariffs on pharmaceuticals and, the expansion of the National Health Insurance coverage.
In his welcome address, the Medical Director, FMC, Jabi, Abuja, Prof. Saad Ahmed affirmed that aside delivering quality healthcare, it also served as a training centre for doctors, nurses, laboratory scientists, physiotherapists and medical students from Baze University, Abuja.
