Dickson, US Varsity Sign MoU on State-owned Medical School

Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Louisville, Kentucky, United States, to train manpower for the newly established Bayelsa State University of Medical Sciences, Yenagoa.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Media Relations, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said in a statement yesterday that the agreement was signed by Governor Dickson and Dr. Neeli Bendapudi, the 18th President of the school.

Dickson said that the Louiseville University would also serve as a guide to set up the Goldcoast Dickson Cancer Centre in Bayelsa State to provide effective cancer treatment to Nigerians.

He stressed that, Nigeria was yet to have a functional cancer centre to deal with the growing cases of cancer-related deaths in the country.

He said: “Part of what we signed today is a collaboration to enable your institution mentor and guide us in the setting up of the Goldcoast Dickson Cancer Centre as there is no functional and efficient cancer in my country.

“We want to be the first to provide these services to a whole lot of people who do not have access to care due to cost-related reasons. We want to work with the University of Louisville and the Brown Cancer Centre to put that on ground in my community.

“The partnership we are here to formalise would cater for training of students who we intend to send to you and it will also cover exchange faculty programmes between your institution and the Bayelsa Medical University”

Speaking also, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, said that the state Government would have the opportunity to train 15 students to PhD level in Public Health, in addition to other short courses considered critical for the power needs of Bayelsa State.

President of the University of Louisville, Dr. Bendapudi, who signed the agreement assured the governor of the commitment of her team to the actualisation of the vision to provide better and affordable healthcare.