An NGO, Health Emergency Initiative (HEI), in collaboration with Ishk Tolaram Foundation, on Thursday donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH), Ikeja in Lagos.
Mr Paschal Achunine, the HEI Executive Director, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shortly after the donation, that it was in furtherance to the initiative’s emergency response to flatten the curve of COVID-19 pandemic.
Achunine said: “We realised that more people need to access healthcare, especially from non COVID-19 related cases.
“After the previous efforts, we are expanding the scope by partnering with Ishk Tolaram Foundation.
“They are the financier of the donation; all we are doing now is to reach 19 hospitals in Lagos.
“Today, HEI with Ishk Tolaram Foundation donated to LASUTH and the Chief Medical Director restated the need for more supports from NGOs.’’
He said that the NGO was filling the space because it was mindful of deaths associated with non COVID-19 cases.
“This support enhances the capacity of health workers treating those cases.
“Ishk Tolaram Foundation is sensitive to the happenings in the environment; it recognised that health is critical and wants the common man to be able to access healthcare,” Achunine said.
The HEI executive director said that the foundation decided to reach the organisation, which has a strong and robust relationship with the hospitals in Lagos State.
He said the foundation saw that HEI structure would effectively ensure that the PPE reach the common man and every other person who visited the hospital.
“From the support and partnership received from Ishk Tolaram Foundation, we have already donated to Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Primary Healthcare Centre, Onikan.
“Other beneficiaries are General Hospitals Randle, Mushin, Gbagada, Isolo, and Shomolu and Federal Medical Centre, Ebute-Metta,” he said.
Achunine called on corporate organisation willing to donate to the hospitals, but don’t know how to go about it, to partner with HEI as an organisation that could effectively work with them.
Also, Mrs Oluwakemi Dabiri, Office Manager of the foundation, said that her NGO partnered with HEI because of their structure and relationship with the hospitals.
Dabiri said that the foundation had been on since 2019, and had been given free artificial limbs to those that had their legs amputated.
She said that the donation would help to stop the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, the Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, said that the donation was a welcome gesture from HEI and the foundations.
Fabamwo said that HEI was not new to the hospital, saying that this was the third time of coming to donate to the hospital since the outbreak of the pandemic.
He said that hospital would welcome more donations from NGOs.
