By Okosun Dennis
In his quest to ensure that members of the public, particularly personnel of the Nigerian Army, are exposed to quality medical facilities, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya has inaugurated multimillion-naira diagnostic equipment.
The equipment was commissioned at the 68 Reference Hospital, Yaba-Lagos on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.
In his remarks, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt Gen Faruk Yahaya called on the Commandant to gun for competent hands to handle the equipment and other sensitive equipment in the hospital noting that they shouldn’t be left in the hands of a novice.
“These facilities are very important in the lives of the personnel, and this is hinged on the four cardinal principles of my command; which is professionalism, readiness, administration, and cooperation.
“Since I assumed office, efforts have been made to improve medical facilities we met on the ground and this has cut across all formations and units of the Nigerian Army.
“This is just one of them. Some at brigade, unit, and sub-unit levels as required. Medical care is very essential. I need adequate maintenance of this equipment and they should be deployed them appropriately,” Gen Yahaya explained.
Towards this end, the COAS assured that everything would be done to train personnel for optimal use of the new advanced medical equipment. “We shall come in other areas of intervention and welfare of personnel as look forward to effective deployment of the equipment.”
According to the Acting Corps Commander Medical, Nigerian Army, Colonel Samson Okoigi applauded the ingenuity of the COAS for providing the needed resources. However, he reminded the COAS that there are other departments whose equipment are either obsolete or dilapidated hence more financial muscles are needed to upgrade them.
On personnel welfare, he solicited more accommodation within the hospital, especially for those who man sensitive equipment as most of them are presently living outside the hospital.
In his remarks, the Project Director, Dr. Aminu Aliyu commended COAS’s presence as a confirmation of his commitment to improving healthcare delivery systems adding that the launching of the project is a roadmap for providing an accurate diagnosis, elimination of errors, and reducing the cost of medical evacuation.
“With this, 68 NARHY has joined the league of international standard competitors in terms of radiology and other services. The Radiology centre consists of a Direct Digital Radio-Fluoroscopy machine; a new model 2022 series of Siemens CT Scanner, a Direct Digital X-ray System, and a Digital 3D Orthopantomograph machine (OPG).
On his part, the Acting Chief Medical Director, 68 Reference Hospital, Yaba-Lagos, Colonel GS Ogoh noted that radiodiagnosis in 68 NARHY would impact the efficiency in healthcare spending for troops and their families as this would help streamline the number of medical evacuations in the Army.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Army Medical Corps is responsible for providing quality healthcare to Nigerian Army troops and their family members in both peace and wartime.
