BY Samuel Akpan
The Abuja Metropolitan Lions Club says plans are underway to equip the pediatric cancer treatment centre it donated to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital.
Aniekan Michael, the club’s president, said this on Saturday during an investiture of the organisation’s officers in Abuja.
Michael said the 20-bed oncology centre was built in 2020 amid the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, adding that the project was conceived because the number of paediatric cancer cases is on the rise in the country.
“For the year 2021/2022 Lions year, it’s a year where we so particular about paediatric cancer and for the project for this year, I have taken it upon myself as a signature project to consolidate where we are coming from,” he said.
“So just last year during the coronavirus era, the club was able to put together a 20-bed space oncology centre, donated at no cost to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital. So today is another opportunity to bring friends, families, every well-meaning Nigerian into our space to ensure that we can put together our commonwealth to equip that same centre to get into a full-function state.
“We spent well over N30 million in putting together that facility and for this year, it is my desire that we can have a frontrunner as to the financial strength to kickstart full equipping. So we hope to put it into full use just so children who are faced with cancer can have a rare hope as to how best they can survive these issues.
“It is my desire we can put together an estimated amount of N50 million just so we can get the very best of equipment that can help these children find some level of succour as it relates to healthcare and attention.
“It is open to the public but we are more particular about the underprivileged, the reason being that’s one of the focus areas of the Lions Club International”.
Michael added that the five focus areas are diabetes, environment, vision (sight), hunger and pediatric cancer.
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