Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM), an indigenous vehicle manufacturing company, has approached the Nigerian government for a loan as it prepares to start production of ventilators and other medical equipment to support the country’s poor public health infrastructure, the company revealed to newsmen on Wednesday.
The company this week asked for N4 billion to help fast-track its production of ventilators and protective gears that may prove critical in Nigeria’s battle to mitigate Coronavirus casualties, Obinna Chukwuma, an executive director at Innoson, told Newsmen.
“We plan to add the loan to our existing financial and technical resources to produce a good number of ventilators within a short period of time,” Mr Chukwuma said. “The time is running out and our available resources cannot be sufficient for what the country would require in critical medical equipment.”
READ ALSO: COVID-19: We’re Ready To Produce Ventilators To Assist Govt -Innoson
To secure the facility quickly, Innoson has approached the Central Bank of Nigeria, through the presidential task force on coronavirus, and a private bank, officials said.
“We made it a two-way approach with the hope that either would work out quickly for us to start producing these life-saving equipment for the Nigerian population,” Cornel Osigwe, Innoson’s chief spokesperson, told news reporters.
Innoson has built cars locally in Nigeria for more than a decade. The indigenous manufacturer has its sprawling production line in Nnewi, a major trading community in Nigeria’s southeast.
To produce ventilators, an automated equipment that pumps air in and out of the lungs of patients unable to breathe on their own, the company would have to install a separate production line or retrofit its existing factory to manufacture medical equipment rather than cars and trucks.
“It is very complex engineering, but if we are able to get the loan we have been pursuing, we can roll out production within 90 days,” Mr Chukwuma said. “Then we can start supplying hundreds of ventilators to medical facilities where they might be needed across the country.”
Isaac Okorafor, chief spokesperson for the CBN, and health minister Osagie Enihare, did not respond to requests for comments.
READ ALSO: Innoson Releases New Models Of Vehicles (Photos)
Innoson’s decision to secure a loan from either the government or one of its bankers came more than a week after the company told news reporters it was ready to produce ventilators and other equipment.
Although some government officials at federal and state levels reached out to the company to explore potential areas of partnership, no concrete agreement had yet been reached, according to information gathered by Anaedoonline.com
Lack of ventilator and other hospital equipments
The world has been grappling with shortages of ventilators and reliable safety equipment for several weeks, with countries like the United States compelling private industries to manufacture medical equipment for bedridden citizens.
In Nigeria, however, authorities have only started taking it seriously.
Since its first case was reported on February 27, Nigeria has confirmed a total of 175 cases and two casualties as of Tuesday night. Yet, there are concerns that far more of the country’s 200 million people had already been infected and the low confirmed cases came from under-testing.
Federal health officials claimed they have capacity to conduct 500 tests per day, yet only 2,000 have been tested as of March 30 after more than a month of daily testing activities.
As of Monday, senior administration officials, including the disease control chief and the health minister, dismissed concerns about ventilator shortages in Nigeria, saying the few that are available in the country may not even be put to use.
READ ALSO: WATCH | “Those that have driven Innoson vehicles say it’s strong, rugged…”
The controversial position of senior health officials came as Nigerians on social media began raising concerns about potential caseloads that could further overwhelm the country’s long-moribund healthcare system. If exposed to COVID-19, elderly and other immunosuppressed patients may lose the ability to breathe on their own.
In an awkward tweet Tuesday night, the ministry of finance, which has been coordinating funding and logistics with health officials since the outbreak in January, sought urgent support for hundreds of ventilators from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. The ministry later disowned the request, saying it was “unauthorised”.Coronavirus: Nigeria Begs US Billionaire For Ventilators On Twitter
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