FG commissions BUK centre for diseases, advanced medical research

AS part of efforts to address the issue of ravaging infectious diseases, the Federal Government has commissioned the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Research and Centre for Advanced Medical Research and Training established by the Bayero University, Kano for them to commence operation.

Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Dr Abdullahi Bichi Baffa, supported by his management team, commissioned the two centres both situated at the College of Health Technology at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano.

The projects commissioned alongside four others, were funded through the 2013 Tertiary Education Trust Fund special intervention. Other projects inaugurated include, multi-million naira Faculty of Law building, Law Library, block of 30 offices for academic staff in Faculty of Education and Gymnasium for sports.

Baffa congratulated Bayero University Kano for putting the iconic infrastructure in place, saying it was very gratifying to see projects really worth what the agency has contributed.

He said: “We are extremely happy that Bayero University has continued to answer its name as one of the high performing institution in respect of access to TETFund intervention and judiciously utilising such intervention”.

He said the project was in tune with one of the key strategic goals of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu as enunciated in his ministerial strategic plan of expanding access to quality higher education and in pursuing the mission of Bayero University, Kano to produce high quality manpower with the requisite skills for the purpose of developing the host community, nation and of humanity.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Muhammadu Yahuza Bello, said it was a thing of joy that one of theirs in another capacity as the Executive Secretary of TETFund was coming to commission six projects, some funded through normal intervention and others through special intervention of the agency.

He noted that in the last five years efforts had been made to expand the focus of the University, in addition to being a centre of teaching and learning known for its quality of programmes locally and internationally, to become a centre of research within Nigeria and beyond.

According to him, the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Research was to address various forms of infectious diseases that are ravaging the society, saying it was wrong that attention is only given when notorious infectious diseases like Ebola come into the country.

He said: “Daily we are dealing with infectious diseases, Tuberculosis for example, is one of the diseases that has been for quite some times.

“The impetus for this particular centre arose from our discussion with West African Infectious Diseases Institute, based in Abuja, that wanted to collaborate with us and we found that the only best way to do that is to have another centre here in Kano that will be carrying out researches in conjunction with Teaching Hospital on various infectious diseases in order to contribute our quota in controlling the diseases,” he said.

Bello, noted that the Centre for Adavanced Medical Research has a wider area of focus, expaining that at the momemt it is only concentrated on a few of them.

He added that centre is already making name and wave in the area of Venom and Anti-Venom research. “They have anti-venom research group on ground that has been working also in some other areas”.