A tripartite agreement to finance the construction of a hemodialysis center took place on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, between the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Care, the Pan-African banking group ECOBANK and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in Lomé. Through this agreement, ECOBANK makes available to the Ministry of Health, 300,000,000 FCFA for the construction of a hemodialysis center at the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Kara. This center will support that of the CHU Sylvanus Olympio (CHU SO) in Lomé and will provide care for subjects suffering from diseases related to kidney failure from the Central, Kara and Savannah Regions, as well as from the northern parts of the countries. neighbors.
The University Hospital Center (CHU) of Kara will soon have a hemodialysis center. The pan-African banking institution ECOBANK is providing Togo with three hundred million FCFA for the construction of this center. This, following the signing of a financing agreement with the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene and Universal Access to Care and the Office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Togo, March 29, 2023, in Lomé. UNDP will be responsible for the construction, purchase of medical-technical equipment, inputs and staff training.
The Minister in charge of Health, Pr Moustafa Mijiyawa, indicated that most non-communicable diseases evolve silently and often without pain. This means that screening is done late with complications such as kidney failure. ” However, the role of the kidney is to clean the body of its waste, which amounts to saying that we cannot live without kidney function. So, you need a kind of substitution to cleanse the body of its waste and that’s the goal of dialysis “, he informed. Professor Mijiyawa acknowledged that the only dialysis center that opened its doors more than half a century ago is now overwhelmed. “The major concern of the government is to make healthcare accessible to a large number of people and the project comes at the right time, because it responds to the concerns of the government and is not only in line with the National Health Development Plan (PNDS ), but also, with the government’s 2020-2025 Roadmap”. The minister was delighted with the interest shown by ECOBANK in the fight against non-communicable diseases, by supporting the government’s awareness-raising actions in this direction. ” It is good to treat diseases, but it is better to prevent them pointed out Pr Mijiyawa, welcoming the support of UNDP to the health sector in Togo, with the recent rehabilitation, development and equipment of the emergency department of the CHU SO, a few months ago.
Contribute to improving the health of the African population
For the Managing Director of the ECOBANK Group, Mr. Jeremy Awori, this partnership is part of the strategy of his institution and aims to contribute to improving the health of the African population, through the ECOBANK Foundation. . ” It will allow the 3,000,000 Togolese living in the northern regions of the country to benefit from treatment for kidney failure that will change their lives and can save them when they need it most. “, he underlined. He specified that this new center will make it possible to increase the reception, care and treatment capacity of patients and will improve the quality of care provided by health professionals, while offering them a better working environment, in line with to international standards. ” When ECOBANK became aware of this urgent medical need for the northern regions of Togo, it was impossible to remain indifferent. We had to act. We believe in partnerships that make the difference “, he noted.
The acting resident representative of the UNDP in Togo, Ms. Seynabou Diaw Ba, for her part, indicated that her Agency, in accordance with its mandate, is committed to helping the various countries to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the objectives of sustainable development (SDGs) at the dawn of 2030. With all 17 SDGs integrated, we recognize that interventions in one area, in this case health, will affect outcomes in others and that development must balance social, economic and environmental aspects “, she pointed out. She acknowledged that, despite the efforts undertaken, several challenges still exist, and others reside in the still high cost of household health care expenditure.
Francoise AOUI
