ACTING Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS), Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Mallam Musa Abdulraheem, on Wednesday, called for an increase in Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to facilitate the development of public facilities in the territory.
He made the call during the commissioning ceremony of a high technology machine, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) laboratory at Karu General Hospital.
Mallam Abdulraheem, whose message was delivered by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistics Department, Dr Mohammed Kawu, further called for more PPP arrangements in all government hospitals and other departments in the territory for the benefit of residents.
The acting secretary said the arrangement should provide rapid facilities in public institutions so that the government pays for these facilities over a period of time.
He said the administration is passionate about PPP initiative as it will ensure that the available little resources are utilized by the government for other purposes.
Mallam Abdulraheem said the laboratory would be replicated in other health facilities within Abuja as it would be of greater importance to residents in the territory.
Earlier, the Medical Director of Karu General Hospital, Dr Osamuede Belle Ojo, noted that the commissioning of the new facility is part of the objectives of the FCTA to provide better healthcare services to serve the community better.
Ojo explained that the machine is meant to test viral infections, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, detect and check their severity, as well as follow up to know if the patient is getting better or getting worse.
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She added that the machine can do so many other things, including the detection of other viral diseases such as Lassa fever, coronavirus, if the capacity of the machine is increased.
Also speaking, the general manager of the hospital, Dr Francis Alu, disclosed that the administration did not spend anything to acquire the facility, except the space for the laboratory and the MoU it signed with the partner, adding that based on the MOU, the hospital is supposed to pay for the facility over a period of time.
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