The Chief Medical Director of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Prof. Abiodun Ilesanmi, has said the teaching hospital is still far from attaining the acceptable standard despite intervention from the Federal Government.

Speaking in Ibadan at the unveiling of the Ibadan branch of America-based Advanta Laboratories, its new partners, Ilesanmi said the proposed laboratory was the outcome of a public-private partnership agreement.

In a radical departure from its established tradition, he said the UCH was set to establish a multi-million naira one-stop diagnostic centre, where patients would not be required to go through the time-consuming protocol.

The UCH was among the five teaching hospitals across the country, whose facilities were upgraded to meet the international standard during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of UCH, Dr. Adeniyi Adenipekun, who represented Ilesanmi at the occasion, said UCH and Advanta would sign a Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of the centre this week.

In spite of the past efforts by the Federal Government to lift the standard of UCH, he said the management had discovered that there were still grounds to cover, which informed its decision to embrace the PPP.

When established, tests like Alpha Fetoprotein, Cardiac Troponin I, Myoglobin, Prostrate Specific Antigens, Carcinogenic, Tumour Markers and others, for which people travel abroad, would be easily carried out at the lab with reliable results.

He said, “The Federal Government is trying its best. Some equipment had been brought in the past, VAMED came in and tried to upgrade facilities at the hospital, but we have come to the reality that the government cannot do everything.

“We are trying to recover from the wreckage of the old decay. What we have on ground now is still a far cry from what we need to attain international standard; or better still, the acceptable standard.

“The UCH is collaborating with Advanta to establish a diagnostic centre that will not require the old order.

Patients will be able to walk and get examined almost immediately without having to undergo the normal protocol.

“By this, we hope to attract Nigerians, who before now, travel abroad for diagnosis because the equipment for the examination were lacking or because they could not stand the protocol.

“Advanta has agreed to bring in state-of-the-earth equipment and the personnel to handle them. The development will assist the UCH and will improve the standard of health services at the hospital.”

Calling on other professionals based outside the country to take a cue from the gesture of the US-based company, the CMD said only such step would assist the country in attaining international best practice in medicine.

To discourage the people from travelling abroad for basic health services, he said the private sector should be encouraged to bring in equipment and expertise, which would ultimately lead to excellent health care delivery in the country.

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Article in Thisday Newspaper: Full Story Link http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=114604

UCH Partners Advanta on Medicare

From Tunde Sanni in Ibadan, 06.19.2008

In line with the Public Private Partnership {PPP} of the Federal Government, the premier teaching hospital, the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, has entered into partnership with an America-based Advanta Laboratories, aimed at strengthening health care facilities in the country.UCH Chief Medical Director, Prof. Abiodun Ilesanmi in his message to the occasion, disclosed that (see full story at link http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=114604