The Benue State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, Makurdi, is set to partner with pharmaceutical companies in the country for a steady supply of drugs, consumables, and reagents to the hospital to enhance its service delivery.
This was disclosed on Thursday by the Chief Medical Director, CMD, of BSUTH, Dr Stephen Hwande, during a one-day stakeholders’ meeting on the effective supply of drugs and hospital consumables held at the BSUTH Conference Hall in Makurdi.
He stated that the collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, including those involved in importing drugs and consumables, has become necessary because many essential supplies are not available in the state and can only be accessed in Lagos or Abuja.
Dr Hwande maintained that the idea behind the partnership is to ensure that the hospital’s vision of becoming a first-class medical centre in North Central Nigeria, where people would be willing to come for medical tourism, is realised.
He explained that the low life expectancy in the country and the high number of preventable deaths in hospitals are primarily due to the lack of essential drugs and consumables. He emphasised that with the determination of the hospital management, this situation would change.
The Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Yanmar Ortese, represented by a director in the ministry, Dr Joshua Agbadu, said the ministry supports every step taken by the management of BSUTH to improve services at the hospital.
He thanked Dr Hwande for the innovative ideas he has been bringing forward to make the hospital better.
In a presentation, the acting Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Hospital, Prof. Michael Agbir, highlighted key drugs and consumables required by each department to function optimally, stating that their availability would improve the health of the people of Benue.
During the occasion, a former director at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr Abubakar Jimoh, emphasised the importance of effective and sustainable supply chain management in Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
He described drugs and consumables as the lifeblood of the healthcare delivery system globally and highlighted the challenges faced by healthcare facilities in accessing essential medicines.
Dr Jimoh noted that this experience underscores the need for a reliable and sustainable supply of essential medicines and consumables in healthcare supply chain management.
He pledged to use his connections to make it easier for BSUTH to access everything needed for effective and sustainable supply chain management.
The director of Vincal Pharmaceuticals, Emmanuel Idoko, as well as the representatives of May and Baker in Benue, Kelechi Onyemachi and the representative of Micro Noval Pharmaceuticals, Ambrose Mwargo, all pledged their support to BSUTH, assuring that with the availability of funds, the hospital can access all the drugs and consumables needed.