Coca Cola Safe Birth Initiative, Medshare donate $2m equipment to Alimosho General Hospital

Mon, Feb 17, 2020
By publisher
5 MIN READ

Health

AN international NGO, Safe Birth Initiative, in collaboration with Medshare, on Monday donated medical equipment and consumables worth over two million dollars (#730 million) to the Alimosho General Hospital in Lagos State.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)  reports that the Safe Birth Initiative (SBI) is a programme initiated by Coca Cola Nigeria, in partnership with Medshare, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the state government to reduce maternal mortality rate in the country.

Responding, Mr Clem Ugorji, the Coca Cola Public Affairs Communication Director, West Africa Unit, said the initiative was introduced to ensure the safety of every mother and child during delivery.

Ugorji said more organisations should come on board to increase the number of hospitals that would benefit from the initiative.

“The Safe Birth Initiative is Coca Cola own way of ensuring that mother and child are safe during delivery and to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in the country.

“Coca Cola has been in this country before Nigeria gained her independent.

“We have always made our contributions in one area or the other, but this aspect is very crucial because it involves life.

“This will help to serve the needy in the society; we want it to become an open platform for more organisations to be part of it,” he said.

Ugorji added that the hospital was the third health facility in the country that would benefit from the initiative, urging the hospital to use the equipment to improve on its services.

“We have made donation to the National Hospital in Abuja and the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Meta, Lagos, the next beneficiary will be FMC in Owerri.

“We want to thank Medshare for their continuous partnership of 15 years, Mrs Adejoke Orelope- Adefulire, Special Adviser to the President Muhammadu Buhari on SDGs, and the Medical Director of the hospital for their support,” he said.

Also,  Gov.  Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, commended Coca Cola for its initiative which he said was targeted at improving healthcare delivery in the state and the country at large.

Sanwo-Olu, represented by Mrs Sherifat Folasade-Jaji,  the Secretary to the State Government, said that government alone should not be saddled with the responsibility of quality healthcare delivery.

“This is a very kind hearted gesture from Coca Cola, and we are so grateful for this wonderful donation that will go a long way to improve healthcare delivery in the state.

“Alimosho is the largest local government in Lagos, and donations like this will help us to provide quality service to mothers and babies.

“We all know that maternal mortality is one of the most challenging public health concern in Nigeria and this government will continue to provide the necessary support needed at all time,” he said.

Also, Prof. Akin Abayomi,  the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, praised the donors for making it a priority to support the government in the area of health.

Abayomi said that the increase in the state health budget this year showed that the Sanwo-Olu-led government is keen on  improving and making health more of accessible to Lagosians.

“Alimosho is a very special place because of the large number of people in the area. This is the only hospital that have two mother and child centres.

“Government can’t do it all alone, it is quite important that we partner organisations to achieve optimal result in our health sector.

“When we get to this level, there won’t be need for people to travel outside to seek for help regarding their health.

“As the Commissioner for Health, I  receive treatment in Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) whenever  I am sick,” he said.

Commenting, Dr Madewa Badejo,  the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, expressed his profund gratitude to the initiators of the donation.

Badejo said that the hospital received over 50,000 patients on a monthly bases due to the population of Alimosho Local Government, adding that the donation would go a long way to increase its services.

“We are proud to say we serve 50,000 patients monthly, and we have 700 staff working day and night to ensure that our patients get the best through the enormous support from the Lagos State Government.

“We received the equipment last year, and we have started using some of the equipment in the two Mother and Child Centre.

“I must say this donation came at the right time to help scale up our service.

“We are assuring the donors that the equipment would be put to use effectively,” he said.

Also, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Adviser to the President on SDGs, lauded the donors for fulfilling their promise.

“I am happy and grateful to Coca Cola and Medshare for their humanitarian support because health is wealth.

“I remember when I approached Coca Cola on this and their quick response to this initiative, I am glad it has materialised for the benefit of Alimosho and its environs,” she said.

The Medshare Director of Biomedical and Training,  Mr Eben Armstrong, said that effort should be put in place to train health technicians on how to maintain the sophisticated help equipment.

Armstrong said the U. S based organisation would continue to source and supply health equipment that meet the standard of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

NAN

– Feb. 17, 2020 @ 19:35 GMT |

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