- Entity: Niger Foundation Hospital and Diagnostic Centre (NFH) was set up in 1990 to promote and improve the health status of a wide range of people in Enugu, the capital of Enugu State (in the south eastern part of Nigeria better known as Biafra). At present the hospital offers the following services: consultation, diagnostic and therapeutic services; radiology services; laboratory services ; and in-patient facilities for 40 persons.
- Beneficiaries: the project will mainly benefit women and children among the lowest income groups who live in the Enugu metropolis (with an estimated population of 1.2 million) and in a more specific way, the inhabitants of Ezeagu, a rural area in the hospital surroundings, (with an estimated population of 200,000).
- Costs: Total cost for the project: 500,000 euros
Description
The quality of healthcare delivery in Nigeria is low. A very central problem is the lack of adequate infrastructure and equipment as well as competent manpower. Some studies suggest that there is a death rate of 5-10% for major surgery, and that approximately 7 million patients undergoing surgery each year have major complications, including 1 million that die during or immediately after surgery. It is a fact that many inhabitants of Enugu do not have effective access to surgical care. The project seeks to focus on improving Niger Foundation Hospital’s ability to carry out basic to intermediate-level surgical procedures, purchasing surgical instruments, and raising the professional standard of surgical nurses and doctors:
- To offer better surgical care, through a more suitable training program for the surgery assistants and doctors, and by purchasing an anesthetic machine and an autoclave for sterilization of surgical instruments;
- To augment a health awareness program on General Hygiene and preventive healthcare measures. This includes more extensive education for early detection of wide-spread viral infectious diseases, such as hepatitis, HIV and massive vaccinations against common infections.
- To build a Mother and Child Care Center. Such a building would provide a proper infrastructure that would consist of a maternity and pediatric ward; a staff training room; patient consulting rooms; a pharmacy; delivery room and operating theater.
