The medical vehicles presented to the institution
- Agency, oil and gas partners donate $30m to NCDC
As part of concerted efforts to combat the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the Country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has handed over medical equipment to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospitals in Gwagwalada, the Federal Capital Territory.
The equipment, presented to the institution by the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, included an oxygen generating plant, a brand new ambulance, six NNPC operational ambulance vehicles, one big ventilator, one small ventilator, patient monitor, hospital beds, bedside cupboards and overtop tables.
Others were air conditioners, fully automated five-part hematology analyser, semi-automated chemistry analyser, alert blood culture analyser, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) device, pro-express Samsung printer, binocular microscope, table top centrifuge and pipettes.
NNPC, in partnership with the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the Independent Oil Companies in the upstream and downstream sectors, had earlier donated N11 billion to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) towards the same end, the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, disclosed in a statement.
Kyari said the partners’ intervention amounting to $30 million, which would be delivered in phases, is “aimed at supporting the national healthcare delivery facilities and covers three key thematic areas: provision of medical consumables, deployment of logistics and in-patient support system, and delivery of medical infrastructure.”
He said the initiative was prompted by the increasing demand for medical services, consumables covering 2,000 test kits, 86 ventilators, over 4,000 coveralls and laboratory equipment, and 200 ambulances to the highly impacted areas across the federation.
Presenting the agency’s personal donations yesterday, Kyari noted that health systems across the world were getting overwhelmed, and “countries with stronger health systems are struggling to contain the pandemic.”
“In the light of this, the oil and gas industry is collaborating to strengthen Nigeria’s response to the pandemic. These efforts, coordinated by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, will support government agencies in providing urgently needed resources – both human and materials, required to curb this pandemic.”
Acknowledging the efforts of the multi-sectoral team led by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Kyari said “it is obvious that to fight this menace, we all have to collaborate to ensure that Nigeria defeats this virus.”
Also, the Medical Director of NNPC Medical Services Limited, Dr. Mohammed Zango, said the donations were intended to meet the urgent medical needs of the isolation centre in Abuja to make it more effective in delivering on its mandate.
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the teaching hospital, Prof. Bissallah Ekele, commended the NNPC for rising to the occasion by supplying the essential medical equipment, which would help the hospital to save lives, adding that the equipment would be judiciously used.
