Salako Blames Weak Maintenance Culture for Failing Hospital Equipment
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, has identified poor maintenance practices, weak collaboration, and inadequate structured training as key reasons hospital equipment across Nigeria frequently breaks down.
He spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at the opening of a five day capacity building workshop for biomedical engineers.
The training was organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in partnership with Healthy Living Communications Ltd and the College of Biomedical Engineering and Technology. Salako was represented at the event by his Special Assistant, Babatunde Akinyemi.
The minister stressed that biomedical engineers play a central role in ensuring that diagnostic, treatment, and patient monitoring devices function effectively. He noted that the COVID 19 pandemic underscored their importance, as sophisticated machines are of little value without skilled professionals to install, manage, and maintain them.
Salako explained that the workshop was designed to update the knowledge of engineers and position them to better manage Nigeria’s growing inventory of medical equipment.
He outlined ongoing reforms, including improvements in biomedical engineering schools, retraining initiatives, development of a national maintenance framework, and a nationwide audit of advanced medical equipment.
These measures form part of the broader Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative aimed at strengthening infrastructure, digital systems, and workforce capacity.
He urged hospital chief executives and heads of biomedical units to ensure that participants share the knowledge gained with colleagues in their institutions to reduce equipment downtime and improve service delivery. He added that the ministry remains committed to creating conditions that will align Nigeria’s biomedical engineering standards with global best practices.
The Director of Hospital Services, Abisola Adegoke, represented by Francisca Okafor, emphasised that medical equipment can only deliver results when properly installed, protected, and consistently maintained. She highlighted the need to match government spending on modern devices with strong technical expertise and sustainable maintenance systems.
Chief trainer Awafung Adie said the long term performance of Nigeria’s healthcare system depends heavily on the competence of biomedical engineers.
He encouraged professionals in the field to expand their roles beyond basic repairs to become managers and innovators in healthcare technology.
The training, he noted, addresses persistent problems such as extended equipment downtime, manpower shortages, weak maintenance culture and reliance on foreign technical assistance.
Emmanuel Oriakhi, Chief Executive Officer of Healthy Living Communications Ltd, said the initiative had been in development for more than a decade. He explained that visits to hospitals revealed many machines left unused due to poor routine servicing and outdated technical knowledge. He called for continuous skill upgrades to keep pace with evolving medical technologies.
Dominiek Viaene, Chief Executive Officer of PROTEX Healthcare, said his company has invested significantly in Nigeria to support improvements in maintenance standards and treatment outcomes. He pointed to differences in dialysis survival rates between Nigeria and Europe despite similar equipment, suggesting gaps in maintenance practices and operational procedures. He cautioned against unsafe handling of medical devices and advocated stronger collaboration among government institutions, healthcare facilities, and biomedical professionals to achieve lasting reform.
