The Federal Government, through the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), has unveiled an $800,000 oxygen infrastructure investment.

The investment is aimed at strengthening emergency and critical care services across health facilities in Cross River State.

NACA’s Director General, Dr. Temitope Ilori, led the inspection of the installations at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) yesterday, where a fully functional 10,000-litre liquid oxygen (LOX) tank, biomedical equipment and diagnostic machines were commissioned under the Global Fund C-19RM intervention.

Dr. Ilori said the investment facilitated by the Federal Government under President Bola Tinubu, includes 400 oxygen cylinders, oxygen concentrators, humidifiers, pulse oximeters, ECG machines, mobile X-ray units, blood gas analyzers, and other critical care equipment supplied to UCTH and state hospitals.

“We are here to inspect the investments made under the Global Fund C19RM grant, I am satisfied with what I have seen. The facilities are functional, being used for patient care, training, and the service of humanity.” she said.

Dr. Ilori reaffirmed NACA’s commitment to working with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Cross River State Government to guarantee long-term functionality of the investments.

“With strengthened infrastructure at UCTH, Ogoja, and Ikom, Cross River is now better positioned to deliver reliable, safe, and equitable oxygen therapy services,” she said.

Also speaking during the inspection, Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, emphasized that the hospital has adopted a revolving fund model to ensure sustainability of the oxygen plant and LOX tank.

“This system runs as a revolving fund. The income generated from oxygen production goes into a TSA sub-account, which we use to maintain the plant and refill the tank,” he said.

He further explained that UCTH has one of the highest oxygen utilization capacities in the region, owing to its large patient load and extensive critical care units, including a 10-bed adult ICU, 4-bed paediatric ICU, 22-bed neonatal unit, trauma theatres, and over 100 emergency beds.

“For now, we are serving our hospital first. Once we fully upscale, we can begin supplying other facilities. But the era of patients not being able to access oxygen is coming to an end,” he assured.