To address the dearth in medical equipment maintenance, the Federal Government has stated that it will establish a National Biomedical Engineering programme.
Lafiya360 reports that the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate disclosed this during a tour of the National Hospital in Abuja.
He, however, stated that the problem of equipment and maintenance is not unique to the National Hospital, as many tertiary hospitals face similar challenges.
The Minister also noted that many of the equipment are worn-out due to frequency of use and time; many of the equipment are over 20 years old.
He said, “Overtime, things just get aged. You have many equipment that have been here for many years and are not functional – very important equipment.
“Same for cancer care, they are old and need replacement, some for radiology that are old and some are not functional or just out-dated. That’s a very clear issue and we need to find a way to solve that in a significant way.
“So, we will in the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare establish a National Biomedical Engineering programme that will try to begin to address the deficit in equipment maintenance.”
With regards to have sufficient power supply, Prof. Pate stated that while his Ministry is working with the Ministry of Power to prioritize health facilities across the country, it is working on alternative sources of power, including solar energy to reduce the cost of purchasing diesel and other fuel substitutes.
He stated that the Ministry is focused on improving the health and well-being of Nigerians, and that the hospitals are a major part of this.
He said, “You, that is, Chief Medical Director, as a leader of the hospital, along with other leaders in our National Hospitals will need to step up your games in terms of responding to patients’ presence, ensuring facilities are functional, the quality of services is tracked, that the patients’ experience the government in a very positive way.”
The Minister noted that the reason for the visit to the hospital was part of his assessment of national federal hospitals across the country.
He added, “We have been to several of them and today we are here at the National Hospital in Abuja because we want to reposition hospitals to provide quality services to all Nigerians with patients at the centre of what we do.
“Also, to assess the leadership of the hospital and its management to let them know that Nigerians deserve the highest quality services possible within the resources available.”
In his remarks, the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Muhammad Mahmud explained that the hospital evolved and expanded its services over the years, from being a quaternary hospital initially for children, and then for women and children, and eventually to involve every facet of medicine and surgery.
He, however, urged the Government to prioritize funding for the hospital as its funding over the years had reduced significantly, affecting its ability to serve patients optimally.