The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) has donated a $500,000 state-of-the-art haematology and blood transfusion laboratory complex to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH) to boost the quality of service rendered by the facility.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NLNG, Dr. Philip Mshelbila, while delivering the complex on Thursday, said that the project was part of the Hospital Support Programme (HSP) being carried out across the country. He stated that similar projects have been undertaken in various regions.
Mshelbila, who was represented by Mrs. Sophia Horsfall, Executive Relations/Sustainable Development Officer, explained that a detailed needs assessment informed the project, and “the outcome is a facility that will significantly enhance diagnostic capacity and provide better support to clinicians and patients alike.”
The CEO added that the programme was launched in 2021 and has been extended to 12 federal university teaching hospitals across the country, covering all six geopolitical zones and the FCT.
“Over the past 20 years, NLNG has done just that. We have contributed to government revenues by dedicating 100 per cent of our LPG products, which you use for cooking gas, to the Nigerian market, and we continue to support the companies that do business with us to grow. We invest in critical national infrastructure, such as the one we are commissioning today. These initiatives align with our vision of improving lives sustainably,” he said.
Also, the Chief Medical Director of ATBUTH, Prof Yusuf Bara, expressed appreciation and commended the donor for contributing to the development and quality of service of the hospital.
“This is more than just the unveiling of a facility. It is the unveiling of potential, resilience, and a commitment to quality healthcare delivery, as well as renewed hope for better health outcomes for the people of Bauchi, the Northeast, and Nigeria at large.
“We are living in a time when the importance of diagnostic accuracy, early disease detection, and medical research cannot be overstated. Nigeria, like many countries, continues to confront the burdens of communicable and non-communicable diseases,” he said.
Yusuf said that the recent surges in Lassa fever outbreaks, rising cancer incidences, and emerging antibiotic resistance trends pose serious public health challenges.
“It is against this backdrop that this laboratory stands as a fortress of response, equipped with the tools, technologies, and manpower to detect, analyse, and inform timely medical interventions.
“By building this facility, NLNG is not just erecting walls, it is arming a nation against its most silent and deadly enemies: undiagnosed illness and delayed treatment,” CMD said.
