The Kwara State government has announced its readiness to establish a multi-billion-naira Cancer Treatment Centre within the premises of Ilorin General Hospital in the state capital.
The Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, while speaking at a virtual cabinet meeting on Friday, said the N2.5bn recently donated to the state by the Abdul Samad Rabiu Initiative (ASR Africa) will form a huge chunk of the funding for the modern facility.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Political Communication, Alh Bashir Adigun, AbdulRazaq said the Cancer Treatment Centre along with the 12-bed intensive care unit, the modern dental and eye care facilities recently added to the General Hospital, is a part of the huge investments to have a research facility for the take-off of the Medical College of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.
He said the Centre when it begins operation will also reduce huge financial resources committed to medical tourism in the treatment of cancer by Nigerians.
“The Centre will serve as a timely intervention for the treatment of cancer for indigenes of the state and neighbouring states such as Niger, Kogi, Oyo and Osun with all the potentials to be the best cancer treatment centre in the entire North-Central zone,” AbdulRasaq stressed.
The governor reiterated that his administration is committed to putting in place world-class mobile dental and eye clinics which will move from place to place for treatment of affected patients in all parts of the state.
He also said funding for the introduction of telemedicine may be included in the 2022 budget, adding that it will provide medical interventions including referral services to the citizens of the state most especially those in the remote rural areas.