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General Electric commissions biomedical training centre in LUTH

By Editor
10 July 2015   |   12:53 am
GENERAL Electric (GE) has officially commissioned the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Biomedical Training centre, which it refurbished and equipped.
GE

Managing Director, GE Company to Country, Health Care Nigeria, Pamela J. Hall; Representing the Chief Medical Director, LUTH, Prof. Olufemi Fasanmade; CEO, Lifecare Solutions/Health Care Systems at GE, Thierry Leclerq and Prof. Carmen Walker, Director Biomedical Training Centre at LUTH during the commissioning of the centre… in Lagos

GENERAL Electric (GE) has officially commissioned the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Biomedical Training centre, which it refurbished and equipped.

The commissioning took place at the Federal School of Biomedical Engineering Technology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idiaraba, Lagos.

The commissioning is in fulfillment of a commitment made by the GE Foundation to work with other stakeholders in developing a new Biomedical Equipment Technician Training (BMET) project in Nigeria to address a major need for locally qualified medical technicians to repair and service biomedical equipment.

In the first year of running this programme, about 19 technicians and engineers have been trained. Statistics show that between 50 to 80 per cent of medical equipment are usually out of service in low-income countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In Nigeria, 50 per cent of hospital equipment are out of service which puts added strain on local healthcare delivery. Speaking at the event, President and CEO, Lifecare Solutions/Health Care Systems at GE, Thierry Leclercq, said: “This capacity-building programme delivers a structured curriculum and develops a pipeline of locally accredited engineers.

We are pleased to collaborate with the Nigerian Ministry of Health and Engineering World Health in helping to address these challenges in Nigeria.” In Nigeria, the BMET training programme is being delivered through 18 four-week modules, delivered over three years in classroom, laboratory, field practicum, and examination components.

Students learn about healthcare technology management, computer skills, principles of medical device operation, and professional development. They are taught a broad base of skills that apply to the maintenance and repair of numerous types of biomedical equipment.

Chief Medical Director of LUTH Professor Christopher Bode, who was represented by Professor Olufemi Fasanmade, thanked GE and the GE Foundation for the gesture which he said ensures that “medical practitioners have new tools to make a difference because the work of the bioengineer is to translate ideas into a workable tool for doctors.”

Continuing, he said, “local institutions and providers own the process of training technicians and, as a result, build their community’s confidence in the local health system.

In the end, this will help maximize the value of donated equipment in the region and dramatically break down this barrier to the delivery of care.” In an emotion laden speech, Carmen Walker, Director of the Biomedical Centre at LUTH, commended GE’s gesture which she said “has made it possible to train biomedical engineers who, in saving hospital equipment, continue to save lives.”

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