Commission to support UMTH radiotherapy centre
NAN-HG-4
Radiotherapy
Maiduguri, Nov. 17, 2016 (NAN) The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has pledged to assist the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) in mobilising resources towards completing its Radiotherapy Centre abandoned since 2012 due to paucity of fund.
The FRC North East Team Leader, Mr Ibrahim Dauda, disclosed this after an assessment visit in Maiduguri.
Dauda lamented that the centre had been abandoned for several years in spite of its importance for the treatment of cancer patients in the North East.
“We are here to inspect projects as part of our mandate to ensure prudent management of national resources. We want government to have value for money in all appropriation for capital projects.
“We have inspected three projects at UMTH – the construction site for the radiotherapy centre, power supply generators and the amenity ward,” he said.
Dauda added: “We saw that work at the radiotherapy centre was just at 22 per cent completion due to lack of fund.
“We will write our report highlighting the importance of the project which is very important to the entire North East.
“We feel that it is an important project which should be counted as priority project having started in 2012,” he said.
Dauda said that the commission would also try to lobby members of the National Assembly representing the North East towards mobilising fund for the completion of the centre.
“We want to highlight the importance of this project and to also urge members of the National Assembly representing the zone towards appropriating fund for the project because the project will serve the entire zone,” he said.
Dauda lamented that the North East had suffered enough due to the Boko Haram terrorism.
“The zone has suffered a lot due to Boko Haram terrorism, so we need to provide succour to the people by making sure that cancer patients do not have to travel thousand miles for treatment.
“We learned that the patients now have to travel to Sokoto or Ibadan for treatment which is bad,” he said.
Dr Muhammad Tahir, the UMTH Chairman of Medical Advisory Committee, told the visitors that the centre was originally conceived in 2008 as a remedy for rising cancer cases in Nigeria.
“The project was originally conceived along with the nuclear medicine in collaboration with the IAEA in 2008 in view of the rising cancer cases in the country.
“The project started in February 2012, but was halted at about 22 per cent completion due to paucity of fund,” Tahir said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the FRC team also visited the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Centre, Maiduguri, as part of the inspection visit. (NAN)
ABI/MST/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola