Tuesday, last week, was simply a turning point for the people of Kano State. But it was much more than that for the victims and relatives of the 1996 Trovan clinical trial conducted by the American pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc in the Northern part of Nigeria.
After a protracted litigation, the parties opted for an out of court resolution of the litigation. As part of the resolution of the dispute between both parties, Pfizer is to undertake the construction of a new medical center totaling $25.5 million as well as reimburse the state government with the sum of $10 million for legal cost associated with the Trovan trials.
This is apart from the amount set out for the compensation of the genuine claimants of the drug trial.
Upon completion, the $25.5 million dollars health care facility will have a state –of- the- art diagnostic equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of many conditions, including Cancer and other life threatening infectious diseases that are presently treated overseas, said sources close to Pfizer. In addition, it will have an In- patient facility, with about 200 beds categorized into different infectious conditions apart from a fully equipped microbiology laboratory for the research and management of contagious conditions that often results in serious outbreaks like cholera and meningitis, Daily Sun further learnt.
Chairman of the Board of Health Care Trust Fund, Professor Shehu .S Galandaci said the project would be completed within the life span of the Board (two years) and explained that the huge population of people in the state and its patronage from neighboring states have made health care a major factor in the state.
Regretting that these days, Nigerians with chronic diseases rarely get proper diagnosis, talk less of the right treatment, except they travel outside, he hoped that the facility would accelerate the pace of health care delivery in the state and the country in general on the condition that there would be a corresponding investment in medical education and periodic provision of new equipment for the center. To this end, he urged the state government to put in place, before hand, the right calibre of persons that would manage the centre.
To decide on the site of the project, the Trust consulted medical experts, across disciplines, from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano . Galadanci explained that a number of factors came to play adding that they considered the factor of proximity to the people, “because you will have to site such facilities where people can easily have access to it.”
He equally admitted that they were advised by the medical experts to choose that particular location, “so that you don’t site it in a place where the wind will blow all the diseases to the larger population” adding that on their part, they would not site a medical facility or a hospital which in itself would bring disease to the people of Kano. The location of the Centre was almost becoming an impediment to the construction of the project. The site was earlier designated as cattle market by the state government before it was reassigned for the medical project.
Daily Sun was told that there was litigation against the choice of the site. But Professor Galadanci puts it better when he stated that: “we had quite a lot of problems regarding the land before we got it. And when we got it there were people threatening taking us to court saying that it is their peace of land. They taught that this Pfizer is bringing a lot of dollars and that people there are already swimming in dollars and they brought about a lot of unnecessary problems. This is what delayed the progress.”
Document made available to the Daily Sun by the administrators of the project revealed that the project was broken down into parts and contracted to companies with proven competence in the affected area. For instance, the Diagnostic Center that was awarded to the A G Ferrero for the sum of N1,72,492,768.56k, the Micro biological Centre was awarded to NAHMAN Construction Company at the cost of N585,751,821.68k, and G. Cappa got the contract for Asphaltic, Roads, Drainage and Walkways of the Medical Centre.
Other contractors include Bruming Ltd which got the contract for the Maintenance Block, Fencing and Gate House for N97, 461, 700. 30k, while Laundry, Mortuary, Generator House went to U-Design Limited for N99,104, 818.97k. Others too, include External electrical installation that went to Digibits Ltd for N229,745, 573. 85k and External mechanical installation that went to Fortia Waters Ltd at the cost of N208,207,375.35k.
Among the many dignitaries, who graced the occasion include the Emir of Kano , Alhaji Ado Bayero, the Kano State governor, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, the members of the Trust Fund and a few representatives from Pfizer’s legal team.
The governor officially laid the foundation stone of the $25.5million dollars health care facility, in Dawakin Kudu town, at about 10:30 am, where he recalled the events that shaped the dispute and the efforts to bring the matter to amicable solution. He noted that the litigations metamorphosed into negotiation, which led to the payment of compensation and the construction of the centre, even as he restated his commitment to ensuring that all genuine claimants were compensated.
He prayed to Allah against the occurrence of any such epidemic in the lives of the people again even as he hoped that the benefits of the hospital would serve the very interest of the people of Kano and its unborn generation.
The chairman of Dawakin Kudu Council Alhaji Sani Adamu Gano while appreciating the medical and economic prospects inherent in the project for his people, however, appealed to the managers of the Centre to take precautionary measures to ensure that the infectious diseases they would be attending to in the Centre did not spread to the detriment of the host community.
So far, there has been commendation for every stakeholder in the deal. Pfizer in a statement signed by Chris Loder expressed delight at the ceremony which it said represents a significant mile stone in the implementation of the Trovan settlement agreement. He said the event would allow the company concern itself with improving the health care of Nigerians adding that the construction is add on Pfizer’s work in Nigeria for more than 50 years.
Also reacting, two civil society groups, Mens Sana situation and the Proletarian Agenda, saluted both Pfizer and the state government on the success so far attained in the implementation process.
“We salute the transparent method used in selecting contractors and consultants for the projects and hope that this would govern the rest of the process to ensure qualitative work and timely completion” stressed Mens Sana in a statement signed by their National Coordinator, Hajia Muslima A. Kadi. She pleaded with those foot-dragging on Trovan test to cooperate with the Board of Trustees and submit themselves to the process so that the other leg of the settlement, which is the actual payment of compensation, could be concluded expeditiously.
Noting that something good was at last visible, the Proletarian Agenda in a statement signed by Danlami M. Balami and made available to the Daily Sun urged the Trovan Victims’ Forum (TVF) to withdraw their suits from the law courts and submit themselves for DNA verification so that genuine claimants could receive the agreed compensation packages currently being stalled by the litigation.
It could be recalled that Alhaji Mustapha Meshekila, Chairman, Trovan Victims Forum (TVF) and his group had dragged Pfizer ‘s Meningitis Trust Fund before an Abuja Court over the on- going implementation of the out of Court settlement as it pertains to the condition for the eligibility. The Court, in turn, transferred the case to the jurisdiction of the Kano High Court having ruled that it lacked jurisdiction on the matter. But the court did not vacate the injunction it had imposed on the Trust in respect of the compensation process, thus stalling the process of compensation.
In his response on the issue of the pending litigation, a member of the Board of the Health Care Trust, Professor Auwalu Yadudu declined comment stating that, “For the legal problem … first of all, we are dealing with our own Trust, which is concerned with the projects. And we have our legal statue separate from the Meningitis Fund. Now, there is suit in respect of that and it will be prejudicial to comment on who is right and who is wrong, what has been done properly and what has not be done properly, since they are still in a court of law.”
However, it has been equally contended that the presence of the chairman of the TVF at the event is a signal that the disputation may soon come to end. And Mishekila told journalists at the project site of the medical centre that the lawyers to both parties are making progress in their efforts to arrive at amicable solution.
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