Health minister inaugurates N32m referral laboratory at UCH

Agbami Co-Ventures is a joint partnership made up of NNPC, Petrobras, Statoil, Famfa Oil and Chevron, all oil majors.

Inaugurating the project at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Adewole said the donation of the equipment should be seen as an investment that would yield profitable returns.

"This project is quite in synergy with our goal to control and eradicate tuberculosis," Adewole said.

"Investing in TB is a wise investment. When you invest one dollar in infrastructure you get three dollars in return but invest one dollar in TB, you get 85 dollars. There is a huge profit.

"In any case a healthy workforce is needed for productive output and we quite appreciate this support because of the returns we get from it."

According to him, the equipment would also help the Federal Government to accelerate TB case findings.

"Five out of six TB cases in Nigeria are undetected and we want to strengthen our ability to find them, treat them and cure them, and this is doable," he said.

Adewole, however, advised members of the public to avoid overcrowding and refrain from eating contaminated food to prevent contacting TB.

"When there is a case of cough lasting for more than two weeks, anybody with undiagnosed fever, sudden weight loss and producing blood sputum is a suspected case of TB and it should be reported. TB treatment is free," he said.

The minister, who commended the Agbami group for the initiative, called on other private companies to key into public-private partnership for sustainable and accelerated socio-economic development.

"No government can do it alone; advancement and progress are recorded when the private sector collaborates with the government," he said.