By Deborah Coker
Benin – The Lift Above Poverty Organisation (LAPO), an NGO, on Friday in Benin, inaugurated its ultramodern Benin Medical Care (BMC) facility.
The inauguration, Dr Godwin Ehigiamusie, Chairman, Board of Directors, BMC said that BMC was meant to enhance the health status of Nigerians, especially in Benin and its environs through the provision of quality, accessible and affordable services.
He said that the organisation was motivated to set up the medical facility to address preventable deaths arising from inadequate medical care.
Ehigiamusoe recalled that he initiated LAPO sin 1980 as a pro-poor development organisation to address the challenges of poor health, material deprivation as well as social exclusion.
He explained that the organisation remained committed to uplifting the people and other objectives over the past 30 years.
Ehigiamusoe said the organisation had delivered various services with 9,654 full-time members of staff in 34 states, FCT and Serra-Leone.
Other reasons he said include checking instances arising from Nigerians selling off assets in order to access quality diagnostic services and medical treatment in foreign lands, particularly India.
According to him, lack of access to quality health in rural communities also motivated LAPO also occasioned the project.
The Board Chairman further said that BMC was made up of three main components which include BMC Hospital, BMC Diagnostics and BMC Rural Medical Outreach.
According to him, BMC medical hospital is a multi specialty entity envisaged to be a centre of excellence in medical care in the region, while BMC Diagnostics will provide excellent diagnostic services.
“Its state of the art facilities include 1.5T MRI, 64 slice CT scan, Digital Mammography, 4D ultrasound scan, digital X-rays, ECG as well as fluoroscopy and fully automated laboratory services,” he said.
Ehigiamusoe, who said that BMC would run the community health outreach programmes in conjunction with LAPO, called on stakeholders` partnership in the health sector to ensure their success.
