Buhari Assures Of Improved Healthcare Delivery

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, directed the Head of Service of the Federation and the Budget Office to consider an increase in the personnel and overhead allocation of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).
He issued the directive at the virtual inauguration of capital projects executed at UMTH, in response to a specific request by the Board and Management of the hospital.
According to the President, the increase in personnel and overhead allocation at UMTH would optimise services provided by the activation of the new projects.
Among landmark projects commissioned by the President were a newly constructed and fully equipped 150-bed Trauma Centre, a new General Outpatient Department, a complex for National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), a multipurpose Auditorium and Conference Centre constructed and furnished by the Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum.
Buhari also commissioned a new hostel for the UMTH School of Nursing, constructed by the Federal Government.
The President noted that the value of the projects at the UMTH, which is a Centre of Excellence in Infectious Diseases and Immunology in Nigeria, to the nation’s healthcare system, cannot be underestimated, especially in the era of global health system challenges occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the completion of the capital projects aptly reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to sustainable development in the North-East, and indeed, in all parts of the country to engender economic growth, peace and progress.
“Emerging diseases have made it necessary for all nations to increase and improve resource application for coping with the challenges of adapting to the ‘new normal’.
“This goes on in Borno State side by side with efforts to tackle insurgency and criminal activities,” he said.
On the 150-bed Trauma Centre which comes with a helipad, the President expressed delight that it would provide modern multidisciplinary care facilities to injured persons from within and outside Maiduguri, in addition to reducing the need for referral to other centres.