Global Fund, UNICEF partner to upgrade Enugu State medical store

United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is in partnership with Global Fund (GF) to upgrade Enugu State Central Medical Store, to meet Pharmagrade Global Standards. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Global Fund is the world’s largest financier of AIDS, TB, and malaria prevention, treatment and care programme. During the handover of the store to UNICEF for upgrade on Wednesday in Enugu, Dr Olusoji Akinleye, Chief of Field Officer, UNICEF Enugu, said the idea was to strengthen the country’s health supply chain management system. He said that the grant was from the Global Fund, working with UNICEF that oversees the project with the guarantee from the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Management Programme. Akinleye said the upgrade would be carried out in 22 states in Nigeria, adding that Enugu, Anambra and Imo were selected for South-East. According to him, the upgrade in Enugu medical store includes replacement of roof, expansion and raising of the structure and replacement of floor, to make it conform with international standard. “UNICEF is going to ensure that all these standards are met, to make sure that Enugu medical store conform with any other medical store in the world. “For the zone that has three of its five states included among the 22 states selected for this project, is indeed a good achievement. “We know that government is not good in delivery product of this magnitude and technicality, that’s why Federal Government engaged contractor to manage the upgrade,” he said. He pledged that the agency would ensure that the job was well executed. Earlier, the Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ikechukwu Obi, said the partnership was to revitalise the store and make it highly efficient as well as Pharmagrade comparable with highest standard in the world. Describing the upgrade as welcome development, Obi said Global Fund was interested in ensuring efficient supply chain management for pharmaceutical products. Handing over the store to UNICEF, the commissioner urged them to ensure standard and quality job that would transform the medical store that Enugu State would be proud of. Mr Isaac Obeta, Director Pharmacy, Enugu State Ministry of Health, observed that the state’s central medical store had been in a deplorable condition. “I commend the generosity of Gov. Peter Mbah’s approval to hand over the store to Pharmagrade global standards. It is a wonderful and marvelous development,” Obeta said. The Group Business Development Manager of M-P Infrastructure Limited, the contractors, Mr Obinna Azuma, promised that the company would work hard to deliver the job and ensure quality job. NAN reports that Juhel Nigeria Limited and Nemel Pharmaceutical, Enugu, will evacuate medical products in the store to their own facilities pending when the job will be through, to enable the contractor to carry out the upgrade. (NAN)