Delta Govt partners Union Bank to ease procurement of medical equipment

Delta Government says it has entered into partnership with the management of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc to ease challenges hindering procurement of medical equipment directly from the manufacturers.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Nicholas Azinge, made this known on Friday in Asaba when a team of senior management staff of the bank paid him a visit.

Azinge lauded the bank for the partnership initiative.

He said that the collaborative arrangement between the public and private sectors would provide a sustainable solution toward addressing infrastructure deficit in the health sector.

“The public-private-partnership arrangement provides a win-win situation for the public and private sector players in the healthcare as well as the general population.

“This is laudable, because it will enable the institution to develop the technical capabilities of their medical team and attract citizens from all income levels to benefit from quality healthcare services,” Azinge said.

He said that improvement in the healthcare infrastructure was lately hindered by the gaps in financing.

The commissioner said that the traditional model of funding through annual budgets and the internally generated revenue had become increasingly inadequate.

He assured the bank management that the state government would key into the partnership, as it would make funds available for improvement of healthcare services to reduce medical tourism.

Earlier, Mr Ibrahim Kwaragana, an Executive Director with the bank, said that his team was in Delta to introduce the Health Equipment Acquisition Procurement Model to the state government.

Kwaragana, who led the bank management team, explained that the model involved partnering with the state government in promoting efficiency and improving facilities in the health sector.

The executive director said that the bank decided to partner with the Delta Government through the procurement model as part of its corporate social responsibility to the society.

He said that the model would no doubt ease   financing for the procurement of specialised medical equipment directly from the manufacturers.

Kwaragana said that the partnership arrangement would include the installation of the procured equipment and the training of personnel that would operate the equipment.