The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), The Calvary Area Headquarters, Province 89, Oshodi, Lagos, has offered free medical services to 1,000 residents of the community to mark its 27th anniversary.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the medical outreach was organised in collaboration with Chike Okoli Foundation and Emzor Pharmaceuticals on Saturday in Lagos.
Deacon Joel Nwokeoma, the Coordinator of the programme, said that more than 1,000 adults and children benefited from the medical outreach.
Nwokeoma said the beneficiaries received free medical care from healthcare professionals that included family physicians, opthalmologists, nurses and pharmacists.
He said that the beneficiaries were screened for Blood Pressure (BP), blood sugar, eye tests, tuberculosis and general body checkup.
Nwokeoma described the medical outreach as a part of the church’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives to give back to the community.
He said that free drugs were dispensed to the beneficiaries based on their health conditions.
Nwokeoma said, the medical outreach, which had been on for more than 10 years was aimed at improving the well-being of the people in the area.
He added that the church executed a borehole to ease the water burden within the community, stressing that the borehole had been effectively serving the residents of the area.
“The major objective for the outreach is to bring healthcare services closer to the community at no cost at all because access to medical care is a big challenge in Nigeria.
“A lot of people with one underlying ailment or the other are dying in silence because they can’t afford the exorbitant hospital bills.
“No doubt, the outreach will not only create avenue for a lot of people to consult with a doctor, but will also relieve many of the financial burden on access to healthcare services.
“I am impressed with the turnout of the people for the medical outreach because it actually surpassed our target of 1,000 beneficiaries,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman, Abajiodu Community Development Association, Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area, Mr Sunday Adedoye, described the outreach as one of the good things that had happened to the residents of the community.
Adedoye, who appreciated the church for the gesture, said the outreach had been very helpful to the community since its inception for the past 10 years.
A consulting doctor at the outreach, Dr Rotimi Adesanya, urged Nigerians to take their health seriously by going for medical check-up, particularly to check their BP level.
Adesanya, also a Family Physician, identified ignorance as a major contributing factor to the poor health conditions of most Nigerian adults.
He noted that many people with high blood pressure were not even aware that they had the condition.
Adesanya identified high blood pressure as the leading cause of death among adults, noting that regular checkup can help to avert some critical conditions that may lead to death.
He identified hypertension, malaria, diabetes and respiratory tract infection as the major harmful health conditions common among the patients at the outreach.
He urged the residents to take advantage of the Lagos State Health Insurance Scheme popularly known as ‘Ilera Eko’ to access healthcare services.
Adesanya who decried the poor awareness of the insurance scheme, urged the government to intensify efforts to educate the public more on system.
“More than 90 per cent of the patients consulted here today were hypertensive, with a majority of them not even aware that they had the condition because they didn’t check or seek healthcare services.
“In fact, I saw two or three of the hypertensive patients who attended this programme last year. And up till now, they have not bought the hypertensive drugs prescribed for them reason being that they cannot afford them.
“And they are now coming back with a higher BP.
“But, the people can take advantage of the ‘Ilera Eko’, though the awareness is still very low, because with just N8,000, an individual can access healthcare and with N40,000 and a family family of six can equally access care.
“So, there is nothing stopping the government maybe from carrying health workers to go from house to house to check people’s BP. And if they do that, people may be encouraged to go and get their BP checked.
“Government should also make efforts to create more awareness about the health insurance scheme,” Adesanya said.
A representative of Emzor Pharmaceutical, Theresa Obioha, said the outreach was one the ways the company make healthcare services accessible to people in the community, who might not afford the hospital bills.
Obioha, also a nurse, expressed commitment of the company to continually collaborate with the RCCG to ensure that members of the church and residents of the area have access to healthcare services at no cost.
“The economic condition and hardships in the country is taking toll on the residents and the people are stressed out,” she said.
She advised that people should constantly check their sugar level, cholesterol level, eat healthy diet, have rest and exercise to avert conditions that might trigger high BP.
Some of the beneficiaries, Uhoman Ingbi, Salman Ismaila, Remi Anifowose and Samuel Ariyo, all expressed their gratitude to the church and organisers of the outreach for the gesture toward improving their health and wellbeing. (NAN)
