By Uche Bibilari
The Chairman, Board of Management, University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH), Dr Ikechukwu Odikpo, has reiterated the need for constant health checks to avoid sudden death.
Odikpo said this while commissioning the Clinical Arm of the Cardiovascular Research Centre and the Pharmacy Mini Production Unit at UATH on Friday in Gwagwalada.
According to him, in recent times there have been a lot of sudden deaths, and more than half of those sudden deaths are cardiovascular related.
“When a man just suddenly collapses, it’s because the body has not been well maintained. We have a problem of not having proper care, proper follow up, proper investigation and proper screening for ourselves.
“You will soon see an activity which we have initiated. I am sure by next year you will start hearing what we call “Conquer Sudden Deaths”.
“Cardiovascular issues are problems which we must begin to educate people and let them know what to do and when to do the right thing so that they will remain healthy,” he said.
He described the commissioning of the pharmacy mini production unit as a dream come true, and one of the ways to boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the hospital.
He expressed satisfaction over the upgrading of the mini production unit, saying that it was one of the projects he had promised to execute before the end of the year.
“I give thanks to God and to our president who has given us what we call the renewed hope, in the sense that he has given us the opportunity to use our initiatives, look for investors and improve the system,” he said.
The board chairman said that the commissioning of the projects was another responsibility given to the staff of the hospital, especially those in the pharmacy and cardiovascular centre to do more.
The Acting Chief Medical Director (CMD), Assoc. Prof. Bob Ukonu, said that the clinical arm of the cardiovascular centre would help to improve the healthcare indices in the country.
Ukonu said that the centre would now generate and analyse data, which would help to make health policies in the country.
He said that the centre, which was completed within three months, would help to proffer solutions to any cardiovascular issues affecting Nigerians.
He said that the pharmacy mini production unit, when fully functional, would help to bring down the cost of pharmaceutical products in the hospital.
“The pharmacy mini production unit will help to drive down the prices of pharmaceutical products which our patients readily make use of.
“It will also, by extension, help to improve our IGR and also reduce government spending with respect to buying most of these things on contract.
“When we produce here, we can easily distribute them within the hospital space and make use of it. So, those have been the driving force of what we are doing,” he said.
He said that the renovation, equipping of the pharmacy mini production unit, done through direct labour, cost less than N30million, adding that the cardiovascular centre runs into hundreds of millions.
The Head of Department of Pharmacy, Josephine Abiri, said that the upgrade of the pharmacy mini production unit would increase the number of products produced there.
Abiri said that the unit produces over 12 products which the hospital was supposed to buy, ranging from bleach, paracetamol, methylated spirit, hand wash, among others.
She said that the production of the products now made it cheaper and easier for the hospital.
“After this commissioning, we are going commercial.
“Before, it was like an internal use, whatever we produce we use internally. We want to go commercial so we can sell to patients, staff and also sell to anybody.
“It is a way of boosting the IGR of the hospital, it has been our dream and it is like a dream come true,” she said.
She appreciated the CMD and the board chairman for their support in ensuring that the unit was upgraded.
She assured that as a department they would make use of the unit responsibly to ensure that they promote more positive outcomes and build the IGR of the hospital.
The Centre Director, Prof Dike Ojji, said that cardiovascular issue could not be treated well without research.
Ojji said that the country would not rely on findings from US or UK because our environment is different.
He said that there were collaborators that would be working with the centre.
He said that the centre, which was a clinical arm, was fully ready to commence research and trial of new drugs. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Kadiri Abdulrahman
