THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES THE COMMISSIONING OF THE NSIA – LUTH CANCER TREATMENT CENTRE
Lagos Nigeria – His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari today commissioned the NSIA – LUTH advanced cancer treatment centre located in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos.
Structured under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement between the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), and the LUTH, the project is a US$11 million investment for the rehabilitation, equipping and operation of an existing cancer centre co-located in LUTH, which will provide advanced radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment services. The PPP is executed as a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT). The NSIA owns the centre 100% today and but full ownership is expected to revert to LUTH after 10 years of operations.
The upgraded facility will run as a joint venture between NSIA Healthcare Development and Investment Company (“NHDIC”) and LUTH. The centre is the first of three projects with the other two, NSIA-AKTH and NSIA-FMCU diagnostic centres, scheduled for commissioning at the end of March 2019.
NSIA and LUTH are confident that these projects will attract additional investment to Nigeria’s healthcare sector, thus encouraging other organizations to join the effort in bridging the infrastructure gap in Nigeria.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
The project will:
- Provide internal and external radiotherapy services, which have previously been unavailable in the country
- Serve 3,000 patients annually
- Provide training for over eighty healthcare professionals
- Reduce waiting times for cancer service treatment at LUTH
- Provide an additional source of income for LUTH
- Serve to reduce some of the leakage of foreign exchange resulting from patients seeking medical care
COMMENTS
Speaking on the project, President Muhammadu Buhari said “Our Administration has created an enabling environment for institutions such as the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to execute high impact projects that will deliver immense value to the Nigerian people. We promised to effect policies that would continually remove debilitating constraints on the sector and create sustainable structures to strengthen our healthcare institutions for the benefit of the people. Today’s commissioning, is in part, the fulfilment of our commitment to Nigerians for quality, affordable and accessible healthcare.”
In his remarks, the MD & CEO of the NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji said, “The completion of the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Treatment Centre is expected to raise the bar in the quality and standard of cancer treatment in Nigeria with outcomes that would be consistent with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. In addition, this Centre will demonstrate the economic potential of healthcare investments in Nigeria and catalyze increased private sector participation.”
Commenting on the development, Professor Chris Bode, Chief Medical Director, LUTH said “A healthy citizenry is an essential ingredient of a vibrant economy. It is our hope that this investment, though focused on Non-Communicable Diseases, is the first of many which we believe will shape the future of healthcare in Nigeria and bring quality healthcare to many under a PPP arrangement”
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ABOUT THE CANCER CENTRE
The LUTH Cancer Treatment Centre is the first of its kind in the country. The project is co-located within the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, a federal tertiary teaching hospital in Lagos, which provides tertiary healthcare services in the Lagos area. The development was undertaken through the LUTH Advanced Medical Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NSIA Healthcare Development and Investment Company.
The treatments to be administered by the centre are:
- Radiation therapy:
- External-beam radiation therapy (LINAC treatment) – is administered outside the body utilizing a linear particle accelerator (NSIA’s investment covers two High Energy Vital Beam Linear-Particle Accelerator and one Halcyon).
- Internal beam radiation therapy (Brachytherapy system treatment) – administered utilizing radio-active material placed inside the body in close proximity to the cancerous cell (NSIA investment covers on Brachytherapy machine)
- To optimize the treatment, a CT simulator will be used for therapy planning to create three-dimensional images of the cancer This increases the precision of the treatment significantly.
- Chemotherapy Day Unit: Outpatient chemotherapy (Approximately 10 chairs and one isolation room)
- Pharmacy: For storing and dispensing chemotherapy and other related drugs
ABOUT NSIA
An Act of Nigeria’s National Assembly, (the NSIA Act), established the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) in 2011. The objective of the NSIA is to promote fiscal stability, build a savings base for future generations of Nigerians and enhance the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure. The NSIA’s investments are made through three distinct funds: The Stabilization Fund, the Future Generations Fund, and the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund. This investment is made under the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund. The Nigeria Infrastructure Fund aims to invest in infrastructure projects in Nigeria that meet our targeted financial returns and contribute to the development of essential infrastructure in Nigeria. NSIA’s investments in healthcare are undertaken within the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund and remains one of the four areas of focus for the Authority’s investment strategy.
For more information, visit the NSIA’s website at www.nsia.com.ng.
About LUTH
The Lagos University Teaching Hospital and the Medical School Complex was enacted by a Cabinet decision made in April of 1961 following recommendations made by the Sir Eric Ashby’s commission on Post-Secondary Education in Nigeria. The objective was to:
- Train at least 100 Doctors annually in Medical Schools in Nigeria from 1975
- Provide effective and rapid re-organisation of hospitals in Lagos, Surulere, Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu for teaching clinical
- Establish a full-fledged Medical School in Lagos as soon as possible to make use of the existing medical
Over the years the Lagos University Teaching Hospital has remained one of the best Teaching/Specialist Hospitals in the country. The hospital boasts one of the highest concentration of skilled medical and paramedical staff in different areas of medicine. LUTH also boasts of a comprehensive Diagnostic Centre and VIP Clinic, state of the art Laboratories, Radiodiagnosis, Radiotherapy and Renal Dialysis facilities.
From a humble beginning of 330 beds, LUTH today, is the one of the largest Teaching Hospital in Nigeria with 761 beds and with the College of Medicine of the University of Lagos in the training of hundreds of Medical, Dental, Pharmacy and other Science Students. The hospital has produced thousands of nurses, laboratory technologists, health records officers and para-medical cadres.
