COVID-19: NNPC/SNEPCo Donate Medical Equipment, Ambulance To LASG

The Lagos State Government  has received multi-million Naira state-of-the-art medical and ancillary equipment and consumables from Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) to support the fight against COVID-19.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, while receiving the equipment at a handover ceremony held at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yaba, commended NNPC and SNEPCo for extending support to the State government in the fight against the global pandemic.

He noted that the generous donation by NNPC and SNEPCO has shown that the fight against COVID-19 infection should not be left to the government alone, adding that Lagos will not relent in its efforts and vigilance to keep citizens safe in the face of threats posed by the pandemic.

He disclosed that the donated equipment will go a long way in assisting the State government to increase testing capacity and improve management of COVID-19 cases.

Abayomi said, “We are very happy with the continuous relationship we have with you. It has kept us on our toes. Our job is to bring the outbreak under control and make economic activities continue as best as we can.

“The government is placing a delicate balance to make sure we have control over public health crisis and at the same time we will not allow it to fall into loss of livelihood”.

“The High-Grade Plasma Apheresis Machine is the latest model of some equipment we have at our facilities and it performs special functions; it can take the whole blood of a patient, replace it, refresh it, or change it.

“This Machine can help us to quickly harvest antibodies from recovered patients and transfuse to those struggling for survival. This is a kind of vaccination, we call it passive immunity”, he added.

The Commissioner affirmed that donations of this kind would go a long way in assisting the Government to achieve its overall objective of the health pillar of the present administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, which is to increase the capacity of the healthcare system and infrastructure to sustainably meet the healthcare needs of Lagos’ growing population.

Asserting that donation of the sophisticated equipment speaks to the core of the importance of public-private partnership, Professor Abayomi gave an assurance that the present administration will continue to encourage more public-private partnerships that will impact positively on the health and wellbeing of citizens.

Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director of SNEPCo, Mr. Bayo Ojulari commended the State government for measures put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the strategies being implemented have boosted citizens’ confidence in government to tame the virus.

“The leadership of the State COVID-19 response team has enabled us to keep hope alive that we shall indeed tame this disease and resume living safely as we know it”, he said.

Ojulari, however, assured that SNEPCo and NNPC remain committed to the health and wellbeing of citizens and will continue to ensure that the healthcare personnel and support staff, who are fighting to contain the spread of the disease, can do their jobs professionally and safely.

In his words: “With the continuous support of Mr. Governor and the State government, Shell Nigeria Exploration Company remains committed to the health and wellbeing of our partners and communities and would like, with these donations, to support healthcare facilities and ensure that healthcare personnel who are fighting to contain COVID-19, can do their jobs professionally and safely”.

The donated equipment includes a COVID-19 compatible Thermo Fisher Real-Time PCR Machine with extraction reagents and 2000 test kits for COVID-19 molecular screening; High-Grade Plasma Apheresis Machine that aids the automatic separation of blood plasma for proper management of COVID-19 cases and Intensive Care Unit Ambulance and Ventilators.

Others are Critical Care Hospital Beds and Mattresses; Automatic External Defibrillator Machines; Suction Machines, Infrared Thermometers, Respiratory Nebulizers, Oxygen Cylinders, Concentrators, 30KVA 48Volts Solar Hybrid Solution with 144kWh battery storage and 104 pieces of Solar Panels to provide alternative power to the Infectious Disease Hospital; 150KVA Generator and medical consumables.