By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) on Tuesday launched a 2.3 million dollar project in Borno to help make available of medical oxygen in Nigeria and better preserve COVID-19 vaccines.
The project was launched on Tuesday by Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno and is funded by the government of Japan, implemented by UNOPS and supported by the North East Development Commission (NEDC).
At the event which held physically in Abuja and virtually, Gov. Zulum commended the Japanese government for the support to Borno and the North East.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project, which has a delivery period of 12 months will directly benefit nine hospitals and 139 Primary Health Centres in Borno.
The UNOPS office in Nigeria in a presentation, pointed out that the goal of the project was to strengthen healthcare provision and meet acceptable standards of medical care.
It said that the project aligned strongly with Japan’s diplomatic policies in Nigeria as well as the National Strategy for the scale-up of Medical Oxygen in health facilities (2017 to 2022) and contribute to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to the presentation, under the project, two medical oxygen plants will be constructed, one each in the State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri and the Biu General Hospital.
The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria Shinozawa Takayuki, who joined virtually declared the commitment of the Japanese government to the project.
In his remark, the United Nations Resident Commission, Edward Kaloon said that the plants were indeed necessary in view of the high demands for oxygen occasioned by COVID-19.
He said that COVID-19 and other respiratory related illnesses exposed systemic weakness in global health systems as health facilities were confronted with high risk of not having adequate supply of oxygen.
