DELSUTH to Establish World Class Radiotherapy Service
OGHARA/Nigeria: Delta State University Teaching Hospital (DELSUTH), Oghara, is on the brink of establishing a world class radiotherapy service, the first of its kind in Southern Nigeria.
Addressing course participants of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos yesterday, the Chief Medical Director of DELSUTH, Dr Omene Ogbeh, stated that the vision was in accordance with the intentions of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to ensure quality, accessible and affordable healthcare for Deltans.
He said that the facility which is a tertiary health institution and formally inaugurated in 2010 by former President, Goodluck Jonathan was considering establishing the scarce health service through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) once the modalities were met.
Dr Ogbeh also revealed that the hospital would commence its Post Basic Nursing School before the end of the year, stressing that such effort as the training of medical personnel, and acceptance of referrals from primary and secondary healthcare centers complements the state contributory health scheme.
While appealing to the Federal Government to consider partnering with DELSUTH to establish a Pediatric Cardio-thoracic Surgery Center, Dr Ogbeh lamented the rising death rate of infants with congenital heart disease, noting that about 70 per cent of 84, 000 babies die nationwide because they could not afford the cost of N30 million in foreign lands.
He observed that it was the desires of the founding fathers of DELSUTH to make it a world class facility, adding that Governor Okowa had transformed the health sector in the state with the introduction of the contributory health scheme, saying it had become a model to other states.
In his remarks, the Director-General of the institute, Mr Jonathan Juma mni, said that NIPSS was saddled with the responsibility of identifying national challenges in the health sector and proffering solutions accordingly through the formulation of policy guidelines.
According to him, the study tour represented the local stage of a broader sojourn in working out a more robust universal healthcare scheme for Nigerians.
The participants were conducted round the facility by the CMD accompanied by the Director General, Delta State Contributory Health Scheme, Dr Ben Nkechika, after an engaging interactive session.
