The Kwara State government has announced plans to convert the State General Hospital in Ilorin, the State capital, to a Teaching Hospital and put it under the newly approved Medical Faculty of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.
The state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, disclosed this at the just-concluded 45th Annual Scientific Conference and General Meeting of the Nigerian Orthopedics Association (NOA), which took place in Ilorin, the state capital.
Represented by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Raji Rasaq, Governor AbdulRazaq said the government has been putting in place necessary measures to ensure that the project becomes a reality.
He said that the General Hospital Ilorin has been equipped with state-of-the-art facilities which included the establishment of two Intensive Care Units (ICUs) to take care of critical cases.
AbdulRazaq also said that the ongoing recruitment of 125 health personnel, including medical doctors and nurses forms part of his government’s strategy to accomplish the set objectives.
He recalled that not less than 500 health personnel had earlier been engaged by his administration.
The governor added that his administration had not only rehabilitated many hospitals and healthcare centres but also reviewed salaries of the health personnel and built their capacity for an improved working condition and higher productivity.
He said that the government was uniquely investing in the health sector to make the state a destination for medical tourism.
President, Nigerian Orthopaedics Association (NOA), Dr. Mohammed Salihu, in his remarks, admonished the Nigerians to take genotype tests very seriously, especially ahead of going into marriages, saying this will serve as a precaution against the spreading of sickle cell disease.
Salihu, who spoke on the topic – “Sickle Cell Osteopathy”, explained that sickle cell anemia is a group of disorders that cause red blood cells to become misshapen and break down.
