Coca-Cola donates hospital equipment to FMC Ebute-Metta

As part of its Safe Birth Initiative (SBI) and to transform the maternal and neo natal healthcare across the country, Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (OSSAP-SDGs) and Medshare International Inc. has delivered maternal and neo-natal care equipment to the Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta, Lagos.

According to the Coca-Cola West Africa Public Affairs & Communications Director, Mr. Clem Ugorji, the initiative aims to tackle the high rate of maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria, focusing on supporting doctors and nurses to achieve successful birth outcomes by strengthening the capacity of target public hospitals.

Ugorji noted that active and intentional collaboration between members of the private and public sector could transform healthcare in Nigeria.

He said: “We commend the good work our doctors and nurses are doing but we recognise there is a limit to what they can do without the critical equipment required for effective diagnosis, testing and treatment.

“Through the Safe Birth Initiative, we are pleased to be able to donate vital equipment to aid the work currently being done to safeguard the lives of mothers and babies here at Federal medical Centre, Ebute-Metta and the 14 other hospitals that will receive donations as part of the first phase of the Safe Birth Initiative.”

Ugorji said the initiative involves the procurement of vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies to enable safe deliveries and post-delivery emergency care; training biomedical engineering technicians to improve equipment maintenance and uptime; and reactivating a large stock of abandoned medical equipment wasting away in public hospitals.

He added: “Federal Medical Center Ebute-Metta is the second out of the 15 hospitals set to receive a set of medical equipment provided under the SBI. During the first phase, 15 major public hospitals across Nigeria recommended by the Federal Ministry of Health, will receive hospital equipment, kits and supplies worth a total conservative value of about$10.8 million, i.e. over N3.8 billion.”

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire said its office is working assiduously to provide strategic guidance on the implementation of the SDGs in Nigeria.

Orelope-Adefulire who was represented by Head Sectors, Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, Dr. Yahaya Hamza, noted that making available a wide range of vital life-saving equipment, the SBI is a great support for the achievement of goal three of the SDGs – good health and wellbeing for all.

“We hope that other private sector actors will follow Coca-Cola’s example in supporting Nigeria’s development aspirations,” she added.

In his remark, the Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta, Dr. Adedamola Dada, said since receiving the SBI equipment early this year they have saved just a little under N10 million in medical and administrative costs.

Dada continued: “We have recorded and supported 21 premature births with the newly-installed incubators; 321 mothers and babies have been brought home alive; and 46,000 other patients have benefitted in some way from the initiative.

“We are grateful to Coca-Cola, the OSSAP-SDGs, Medshare International and the Federal Government for this initiative. Already Coca-Cola has also ensured the sustainability of the programme and equipment, making sure we have adequate engineering capacity on ground, through the training of our engineers, for preventive maintenance.”