FMC Abuja urges FG to increase funding for improved services

The Federal Medical Centre, FMC Abuja, has urged the Federal Government to increase the budgetary allocation for the hospital to improve medical services and enhance health security in the country.

This appeal was made by the Chief Medical Director Prof. Saad Ahmed at the official commissioning of the hospital’s ultra-modern administrative complex .

While thanking the government and other stakeholders, he stated that with more land space, the hospital will be able to work on other service provisions such as the expansion of emergency units, trauma centers, radiotherapy, nuclear medicine services, and other high-end medical care.

He said, “We equally require some needed medical and support equipment necessary to improve patient care. These required equipment include the 1.5 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging machine, computers, networking equipment, a new 128-slice CT Scan machine, and high-end neurosurgical and ear, nose and throat equipment, among others.

“We plead for increased budgetary provision to this facility as addressing these challenges can improve services and enhance health security, not just in Abuja, the nation’s capital, but also the neighbouring states.”

In his address, the Minister of State for Health, Ekumankama Nkama, said the administrative complex will enhance the capacity and motivation of the administrative staff, heads of department, and clinical consultants.

Nkama also said the building will enhance the accreditation of post-graduate training for the clinical department.

He also used the opportunity to inform of other great achievements of the Medical Centre last year which include but are not limited to the provision of highly-specialised healthcare services such as open-heart surgery, laser operations, spine surgery, the introduction of new services in the fertility centre such as oocyte freezing, peri-implantation gamete testing, significant infrastructural developments such as the construction of state-of-the-art intensive care unit, construction and equipping of 40 bedded negative pressure isolation centre, construction of Dialysis Unit out of an existing female ward extension.

“Others are improved hospital manpower through comprehensive education and periodic training of all staff as part of capacity building to improve efficiency; expansion of the training programmes and accreditation by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria; enhanced research activities through the creation of research groups and annual research awards from the hospital’s administration; and the Federal Medical Centre Abuja emerged as the best public-owned hospital in the Commonwealth Nations, and the Medical Director, Prof Saad Ahmed, emerged Health Advocate of the Year”