President Bola Tinubu has commissioned the $300 million world class health facility, the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) built by the African Import-Export Bank (Afreximbank) in partnership with King’s College Hospital, London.
The hospital would specialise in comprehensive care across oncology, cardiology, and haematology, including general medical and surgical services as well as advanced diagnostic services.
President Tinubu gave assurances of giving maximum support to the operations of the hospital to enable it serve as a solution point for those seeking advanced healthcare treatment.
Represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, he noted tha the facility would serve as a solution to the growing medical tourism which has resulted in capital flight putting more stress on the limited foreign exchange.
He said: “AMCE is a promise of the continent. What we gather to witness is a statement that we are prepared to compete with the best medical facilities and services around the world.
“So, the AMCE could not have come at a better time. It will, undoubtedly, benefit from the investments and reforms we have championed in the last two years, and it is also a reminder that the ultimate measure of a functional nation is the synergy between the government and private sector players to co-create solutions.
“The pace you are here to set shall serve as a template for those who truly seek excellence in their service delivery, even beyond the health sector. I am also proud that Nigeria now hosts the largest stem cell laboratory in West Africa, located within this Centre. With the planned Medical and Nursing School on this campus, and with partners ranging from King’s College London to the University of Wisconsin, you are laying the foundation for a new generation of African medical specialists who will no longer be exported but empowered at home.”
President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof. Benedict Oramah said AMCE was designed, built, and equipped to attract global attention to Nigeria saying, “This will obviously herald a reverse of the japa syndrome that has hit our health care system.”
Chief Executive Officer of AMCE, Brian Deaver noted that AMCE was more than a hospital. “It is a commitment and a promise that world-class, cutting-edge healthcare is not something we have to leave Africa for. It is now right here. Homegrown. African Dreamed, African-built. And soon, African-renowned.”
According to him, the hospital was commencing operations with 170 beds, with planned expansion to 500 beds within five years, and expected to provide 3, 000 jobs across medical and non-medical sectors helping to tackle health workforce brain drain and boost employment opportunities.
Deaver added that the hospital is equipped with cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment tools such as: – An 18MeV Cyclotron, PET & SPECT CT Scanners, 3 Tesla MRI Scan, 256-slice CT scanner, 2 linear accelerators and a Brachytherapy, largest stem cell laboratory in Africa and 15 post-isolation rooms, 5 operating theatres, 3 catheterization labs, advanced laboratory capabilities, 20 chemotherapy chairs supported by a compounding pharmacy.
Managing, Director, Export Development, Afreximbank, Oluranti Doherty, revealed that
the AMCE concept would be replicated in five different locations across Africa to offer similar significant medical services to Africans, stimulate businesses and services across the continent and provide affordable medical services to advanced medical issues that are hitherto referred to in hospitals abroad.
