By FABIAN EKERUCHE

The Chief Medical Director, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, says that victims of disaster in the state are treated free of charge in state-owned hospitals.

Fabamwo stated this on Friday in Lagos on the sidelines of the distribution of relief materials donated by the Federal Government, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to LASUTH.

Fabamwo said that the Gov. Babjide Sanwo-Olu’s administration had a policy directing state owned hospitals to treat victims of disaster free of charge.

“So, here for instance, in LASUTH, when we have disaster cases, we treat them completely free of charge. But then, of course, we do a bill to the government and they usually pay us back.”

The CMD also expressed gratitude to the governor for prioritizing the life of victims of disaster in the state through the life-saving policy.

He said, “So, some of the times when unfortunately, we have aircraft disasters, a lot of the patients are brought here also.

“We own the bones and trauma unit in the general hospital. So a lot of disaster patients of flooding, fire, and crashes flood here.

“So some of these items that have been donated are going to be very useful to us and we’ll put them to good use to give relief to these victims.”

According to Fabanwo, LASUTH response time to disaster is excellent.

“We have a drill, we have a disaster management committee, and every month they run a drill.

“They try to simulate disaster scenarios and how they will respond.

“One of consultant orthopedic surgeons is in charge of that committee.

“So as soon as we have a call from the first responders, we activate all the units that need to be in attendance, and we are ready to receive; so response time is usually very excellent,” he said.

The CMD expressed gratitude to NEMA for considering LASUTH in the distribution of medical consumables.

Earlier, the Director-General of NEMA, Alhaji Mustapha Ahmed, said that LASUTH was deserving of the materials because of the roles it had played in attending to victims of disaster.

Represented by Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, the Zonal Coordinator, South West, NEMA, said that the distribution of the relief materials was to cushion the effects of the impact of disaster on victims in Lagos. (NAN)