New Telegraph

FG flags off Umahia diagnostic centre

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) continued its intervention in the health sector yesterday with the inauguration of Umahia Diagnostic Centre, third in the series, a centre the Federal Government is banking on to change the face of health care system in the country. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who led the government delegation in performing the virtual inauguration, said there was a strong synergy between a healthy citizenry and a nation’s wealth.

Thevirtualinaugurationwas attended by Governor of Abia State, OkezieIkpeazu; Ministerof Statefor Health, Dr. Olurunnimbe Mamora; Chairman, Board of FMCU, Senator John Danboyi; Managing Director of NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji and the Chief Medical Director of FMCU, Dr. Azubuike Onyebuchi. The minister said government was committed to accord priority attention to develop the health sector and pledged to initiate various policies to address challenges facing the sector.

Ahmed recalled that NSIA had before the latest inauguration, made similar investment at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital Cancer Centre, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and currently the Federal Medical Centre Umuahia Diagnostic Centre. However, she said these measures were not enough as government alone did not have the financial resources to address all the challenges in the sector. To complement the investments of government in the health sector, Ahmed called on private sector investors to increase the level of their investment in the sector.

“There is increasing awareness that the health of a people affects their productivity and the nation’s economic growth as a whole. As the saying goes, ‘A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. The administration recognises that progress in the health sector is handicapped by several bottlenecks. With full appreciation of the issues, we have worked and continue to work to ensure that systems are introduced to bridge these gaps. “One such step in this direction is our direct intervention in addressing non-communicable diseases such as cancer. We have created an enabling environment for institutions such as the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to execute high impact projects on time and on budget, delivering immense value for the Nigerian people.”

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