Heineken Africa Foundation (HAF) in collaboration with Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB Plc) on Thursday, July 13, 2017, commissioned an upgraded neo natal ward at the Lagos University Teaching hospital, LUTH.
The project involved a physical and infrastructural upgrade of electrical installations to modern versions as well as a provision of piped oxygen and air to the neonatal unit complex. It also involved an upgrade of plumbing facilities to ensure availability of potable water in the unit.
The facility was also equipped with 2 Bubble CPAP Machine Systems, 1 Neo Puff F/P Resuscitator, 12 Phototherapy units, 2 Pulse Oximeters, 8 baby incubators and 4 Multiparameter monitors, 6 infusion pumps, 6 Humidifiers continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) Spares, 1 ISTAT Blood Gas Machine and two weighing scales.
Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc, representing Johan Doyer, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Breweries Plc revealed that the Heineken Africa Foundation partners with Heineken Operating Companies like Nigerian Breweries Plc, in Africa to execute projects in communities identified with health and water challenges.
“The Heineken Africa Foundation was established to support projects that improve healthcare and water supply for communities in Sub-Saharan Africa where access to basic healthcare and clean water poses a challenge,” Ekanem said.
Ekanem further stressed that the donation is in line with Nigerian Breweries philosophy of winning with Nigeria. “As we win with Nigeria, we want other sectors of the economy to win and have significant growth that would positively affect the lives of the people,” he said.
Professor Chris Bode, Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, represented by Professor Olufemi Fasanmade expressed his profound gratitude to Heineken Africa Foundation and Nigerian Breweries Plc, commending the donation as phenomenal and comparable to none embarked upon by any corporate organization in the country.
“Nigerian Breweries Plc and Heineken Africa Foundation has brought succor to our aged infrastructures in LUTH which will save over 400 new borns that come to us through referrals monthly,” he said.
Professor Chinyere Ezeaka, Head, Neo Natology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH and President, Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine, NISONM, revealed that the facilities provided by HAF and NB will help challenge the index record which placed Nigeria as the country with the highest infant mortality rate in Africa and second highest infant mortality rate in the world. She applauded their commitment to healthcare and called on other organizations to take giant strides in the direction that the nation’s foremost brewer and its mother company, Heineken, has set.
Other guests present at the commissioning ceremony included Honourable Bolaji Yusuf Ayinla, member, Federal House of Representatives, Mushin II Constituency, Lagos, Mrs. Christiana Odiazikwor, Public Relations Officer, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who also represented the acting Director of NAFDAC as well as other professors of medicine, doctors, nurses, students and other staff of the hospital.
Since its inception in 2007, the Heineken Africa Foundation in collaboration with operating companies of Heineken in Africa has committed over €7.2 million to support over 83 projects focused on health and water across the African continent. In Nigeria, the collaboration between the foundation and Nigerian Breweries has impacted Vesicovaginal fistula, autism, accident and emergency care, among other medical specialties across Nigeria.