By Sadiq Umar – The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) has selected GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE), a leading global provider of transformational medical technologies and services, as a long-term partner to revitalize healthcare infrastructure in the Northern States, with the signing of a one-of-a-kind strategic partnership agreement this week in Abuja
Under the framework agreement, designed to bring GE’s global capabilities in improving health system and patient outcomes across the globe, NSFG and GE will explore several areas for collaboration across primary, secondary and tertiary care facilities including: the establishment of new diagnostic medical centres; primary and referral care offerings such as relevant technologies to modernize health clinics; training and skills development for health workers and operations and evaluation support.
Further, in line with the 2016 Federal National Health Policy and reflecting NSGF’s mandate to accelerate sustainable healthcare across the nineteen Northern States, the alliance will explore a range of public-private partnership models.
Speaking at the signing, Borno State Governor and Chairman of NSGF, Governor Kashim Shettima observed that the agreement would transform healthcare sector in the north.
According to him, “Today, we execute the framework agreement between the Northern States Governors Forum and GE for the transformation of the healthcare sector in northern Nigeria. We are proud to have a partner like GE, a leader in the healthcare space and we look forward to reaping the benefits of this partnership soon. We appreciate GE’s commitment to increasing accessibility and affordability of healthcare in Nigeria”.
General Manager for GE Healthcare in West & Central Africa, Eyong Ebai, expressed delight at the partnership, saying it would help to attain universal healthcare coverage in Northern Nigeria.
“We are delighted to partner with the Northern States Governors Forum on this landmark agreement that sets the path towards a range of efforts that will contribute towards the attainment of universal healthcare coverage in Northern Nigeria.
“Over the past five years, GE Healthcare has executed on its localization strategy by building a strong local footprint, capacity building and several initiatives to help healthcare providers in delivering better, more holistic healthcare for the people of Nigeria. We look forward to delivering on the next stage of our growth plans in Nigeria.”
With over 40 years in Nigeria, GE is focused on partnering with public and private health providers to increase access to affordable and quality healthcare.
In 2012, GE Healthcare and the Nigerian Ministry of Health signed a 5-year agreement for the government to leverage GE’s technologies, solutions and domain expertise to help upgrade the country’s medical facilities and contribute towards health infrastructure modernization. In line with the Sustainable Development Goals, GE remains firmly committed to deepening these collaborations to strengthen Nigeria’s health system.
