WHO, FCDO donate vehicles, medical equipment, items worth billions to Enugu Govt.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have donated vehicles, medical equipment and items worth billions of naira to the Enugu State Government.
The WHO Country Director and Head of Mission, Nigeria, Dr Pavel Ursu, made the donation on Monday during a courtesy call on the Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah, at the Government House Enugu.
Ursu said that the donations were for health training Institutions in the state – Enugu State Colleges of Nursing in Parklane and Awgu respectively.
The donations included: two brand new 15-seater Hiace Commuter buses, two diesel generating sets, five suction machines pump, 145 desktop computers, 13 Sharp multi-purpose three-in-one printers, photocopier and scanner and back-up UPS.
Others are: four rechargeable public address systems, eight sets of 3D electronic board, 45 air conditioners with inverters, 157 ceiling fans, a monocular microscope and eight solar panels.
The rest are: 20 fire extinguishers and 20 fire blankets, hundreds of furniture (both chairs and tables), various lab-room prototypes of human organs and systems and health consumables among many others.
Ursu, who did not mention specify the billions of naira the donated items are worth, said the donations followed a comprehensive infrastructure readiness assessment conducted by WHO on the two colleges of nursing in the state.
He noted the donation was part of WHO and its partners’ Equipment Support for Health Training Institutions (ESHTI) Initiative in 13 health institutions in the country, with Enugu State having two health institutions
The WHO Country Director said that Mbah had set a commendable example in health system investment and listed several remarkable interventions of the administration in health sector development in two years.
“WHO commends your administration for the bold and strategic investment in health system strengthening, health infrastructure expansion and primary healthcare revitalisation.
“These efforts are expected to reduce patient wait times, improve quality of care, and enable evidence-based decision-making,” Ursu said
He commended Mbah for his investment in human resources for health through the approval of the recruitment of 2,200 health workers across all cadres, with 450 already on board, as well as support to health training institutions.
Speaking, Dr Ebere Anyachukwu, Nigeria Health Advisor of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), praised the governor’s efforts in transforming the state’s health system, adding that FCDO had been observing efforts already made in the health sector.
“We are proud to have partnered with Enugu State and the WHO to provide this support, and we hope that this will improve the quantity, quality and effectiveness of the health workforce,” he said.
Responding, Gov. Mbah, while conveying the profound gratitude of the state and her people to WHO and FCDO, said the donations would help in realising his administration’s vision to grow the state’s economy sevenfold.
“The monumental equipment and items received today will assist us close all manpower gaps and improve on our resolve to make the state the hub of healthcare professional training and delivery,” the governor said.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, who thanked the WHO and FCDO for the gesture, said that the donation would improve the positive health indices and indicators of the state.
