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”
