The House of Representatives has called for the urgent upgrade of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) to enable it to deliver qualitative healthcare services.

The lawmakers, led by Amos Magaji, chairman of the Committee on Health Institutions, made the call during an oversight visit by the members to JUTH on Tuesday in Jos.

Mr Magaji, the lawmaker representing Zango-Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency, decried the hospital’s decaying facilities and said the institution, especially its equipment and infrastructure, was in dire need of upgrades.

“ It’s disheartening that this hospital doesn’t have a functional MRI machine; the CT scanning machine it has is also obsolete.

“ In modern medicine, diagnosis is key to effective health care delivery. Unfortunately, this cannot be attained without modern, functional equipment and radio-diagnostic tools.

“My committee has seen that the hospital is in dire need of attention for the upgrading and replacement of its obsolete equipment, as well as the renovation of its structure,” he said.

He said the hospital’s funding is grossly inadequate, a situation that the committee will investigate to address the issues appropriately.

The chairman commended the institution’s management and staff for being proactive in executing their duties despite the daunting challenges.

Mr Magaji said the House of Representatives Committee on Health Institutions of the 10th National Assembly was poised to revamp the health sector and reverse the trend of medical tourism.

“Since we have very skilled and qualified medical personnel in this country, we must see to it that the health sector is revamped to enable the personnel to work in a conducive atmosphere.

“ We will do everything to make the Nigerian hospitals a choice destination for medical and healthcare services for other countries,” Mr Magaji said.

Pokop Bupwatda, JUTH’s chief medical director (CMD), commended the committee for visiting the hospital.

The CMD expressed optimism that those challenges would be addressed as soon as possible to provide better healthcare delivery services to the people.

(NAN)