The new 100-bed Mother and Child Hospital commissioned in Tsamiya village in Kebbi State is expected to significantly reduce maternal and child mortality in the state, according to the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs).
The state-of-the-art hospital, built and fully equipped by OSSAP-SDGs, was handed over to the Kebbi State government last week.
The hospital, commissioned by the Kebbi State governor, Nasir Idris, is one of over 40 units of 100-bed Mother and Child Hospitals constructed and fully equipped across the country by OSSAP-SDGs.
In his remarks, Governor Idris showered encomiums on the SSAP-SDGs, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, for delivering the laudable project in Kebbi State and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his unwavering commitment to improving the health sector, adding that the project would help in reducing child and maternal mortality as well as improving maternal health within the state and, by extension, the neighbouring Benin Republic.
Idris, while expressing his gratitude and commendation to Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, noted that the hospital will cater to the teeming population in the area, which had hitherto been underserved.
This, he said, was in consonance with the people-focused disposition of President Tinubu administration.
He added that the state government would build staff quarters to support the services at the hospital and help mitigate the accommodation challenges that may be encountered by the doctors and nurses who will be engaged in the hospital.
Also speaking, the member representing Bagudo/Suru Federal Constituency of the state, where the project is sited, stated that the hospital is one of the numerous projects executed by OSSAP-SDGs in the area and expressed appreciation to President Tinubu and OSSAP-SDGs for the benevolence.
In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, stated that the hospital was built and equipped to international standards.
She added that, like others built across the country, the facility is fully equipped with state-of-the-art medical equipment.
These include Operating Theatre, Labour Room, Recovery Rooms, Children ICU, Private and General Wards, Scanning Room, Consultation Rooms, and Laboratory. Others include Ultra-Scan Machine, Vacuum Extractor delivery set, and an Emergency Cart with full complements. The MCC is directly linked to the achievement of SDG-3 on 'Quality Health and Well-being for all', as well as other cross-cutting SDGs.
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The SSA thanked President Tinubu for his leadership and support in driving the SDGs in Nigeria.
"Let me, from the outset, appreciate President Tinubu for his sterling leadership and commitment to working closely with sub-national governments to deliver key interventions to fast-track the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria.
'In the same vein, I would like to most sincerely thank Governor Nasir Idris for his unwavering commitment to the socio-economic transformation of Nigeria and our collective desire to achieve the SDGs in Nigeria," she stated.
She added that, "based on President Bola Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda, we are committed to prioritising key interventions with multiplier effects on multidimensional poverty, such as basic healthcare, vocational skills development, and education provisioning.
"With the COVID-19 pandemic challenging our healthcare system, strategic interventions, such as the Mother and Child Centre, have become imperative.
"Indeed, the primary and secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of human development gains and undermine the achievement of the SDGs unless immediate action is taken and sustained."
This, she said, underscores the construction and equipping of numerous healthcare facilities spread across the country.
