UNICEF Builds, Hands over 720,000-litre Capacity Oxygen Plant to Rivers Govt

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), has handed over a 720,000 litres capacity oxygen plant to the Rivers State Government.

The plant located at the premises of the Eleme General Hospital in Eleme Local Government Area was built in partnership with the federal Government, Canadian Government, Rivers State Government and IHS Towers.

Handing over the facility to the state government, Country Representative of UNICEF, Ms. Cristain Munduate, said the initiative was a follow up to the comprehensive and nationwide assessment of oxygen needs of health facilities across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

She said the gesture represents a significant milestone and a major advancement in the ongoing efforts to improve maternal, newborn and child health in Rivers State and across Nigeria.

Her words: “This plant will significantly boost the capacity of Eleme General Hospital and surrounding healthcare facilities to provide life-saving medical oxygen. It will ensure that oxygen is readily available and accessible, reducing dependency on external supplies and ensuring that emergencies are swiftly and effectively managed.

The impact of this facility cannot be overstated as it will save lives, improve health outcomes, and provide a stronger foundation for the comprehensive healthcare that every individual deserves.”

The UNICEF Country Representative expressed confidence that the state would put the facility to best use.

Further according to her: “As we handover this plant to the Rivers State Government, we are confident that they will be maintained and utilised effectively to maximize their impact.

“I am particularly happy that the state has opted for operationalising this plant using the public private partnership model. If properly executed, I have no doubt that the plant’s use would be long-lasting.”

While appreciating partners for their support and Governor Siminalayi Fubara for his dedication towards improving healthcare in the state, the UNICEF Country Representative sought the commitment of the Rivers State Government to deploy skilled healthcare professionals to man the newly established level 2 newborn unit established in the same facility.

Commissioning the facility, Governor Fubara assured that it would be put into best use. He noted that building of the plant aligns with his health policy for the state.

“What we are doing today is in-line with our three points agenda. We might have so many things in mind before we came onboard but along the line we must redirect our minds in line with the needs of the people.

The need for quality education, the need for affordable healthcare and need to put food on the table of our people and you are geniune imperatives.

“We have spent and we are still spending to make sure that Rivers State becomes health tourism state. As we speak today, the zonal health centre are almost 70 percent completed not as we met them but advancing it to international standard and I believe the only reason why this project was allocated to Rivers State is because of our investment in healthcare,” Fubara said.

The governor noted that his investment in healthcare attracted the project to the state, just as he charged people of Eleme to take ownership of the project and secure it.

“They are seeing what we are doing and they believe that it would be right to partner with Rivers State and I want to assure you that we’ll protect this project, we would do everything to ensure that the Hospitals Management Board put everything in place to secure this project,” he stated.

Giving a description of the project, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, explained that the faculty has the capacity of producing 123 cylinders and 720,000 of oxygen in 24 hours.

She said the facility will serve facilities in the state and other neighboring states.