By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
Rotary Club District 9125, Abuja has extended it’s free medical outreach to 500 indigenes comprising women, children, and residents of Guidna Community in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
The outreach which was held at Silver Cross Hospital was organized by Rotary clubs in District 9125; consisting of 12 Rotary clubs in Abuja.
President of Rotary Club District 9125, Rotarian Aisha Ali said that the free medical interventions were ensuring that mothers and children everywhere have the opportunity to accessing quality medical care for a healthy future.
“An estimated 5.9 million children under the age of five die each year because of malnutrition, inadequate health care, and poor sanitation; all of which can be prevented,” Ali noted.
Rotarian Ali disclosed that Rotary provides education, immunizations, birth kits, and mobile health clinics. ”
Mr. Adesuwa Agbontaen, the President, Rotary Club of Asokoro and Chief Executive Officer, Eye Care Aid Foundation, noted that the medical intervention “is to give back to the society and assist indigent communities with basic healthcare services.
“One of the things that we do in Rotary is to carry out projects, as we have more than 44 clubs in Abuja, and we are all doing one project or the other, which is carried out on a weekly and on monthly basis,” he said.
Women are taught how to prevent mother-to-infant HIV transmission, how to breast-feed, and how to protect themselves and their children from diseases,” she added.
District Chair, Maternal and Child Health Committee, Mrs. Lovina Okorn- Ntui disclosed that women were given mosquito nets, free scan services, there was deworming of children, eye checks and distribution of eyeglasses, among others.
“The outreach is in response to one area of focus of Rotary International, which focuses on providing high-quality health care to vulnerable mothers and children, Okorn- Ntui said.
“Owing to the economic situation in the country, the clubs decided to provide the medical intervention to the less-privileged and vulnerable groups that could not afford regular healthcare checks.”
“The essence of today’s programme is to fulfill the area of focus as it concerns maternal and child health, safe delivery for women, safe breastfeeding for women and their children as well as healthy living for women and children.”
“We will be enlightening them on safe delivery, issues surrounding safe breastfeeding as well as its importance.”
We will be giving them treatment for preventable diseases such as malaria fever, other common diseases that affect women and children, are among the different interventions.
“We decided to come here because this is an indigent community and what Rotary preaches is to go to indigent communities to fill in the gap.”
“There is no other health facility here aside this one, so we are collaborating with the owner to provide the necessary health services to the women and children, she said.
Chief Medical Director, Silver Cross Hospital, Dr Patrick Ezie, in appreciation noted that the gesture was to assist the poor and needy in the community.
“We came together and decided that we need to flag-off this kind of intervention for women in rural communities because we identify that a lot of these women can not get the type of care that they want for basic problems.’
“We will be providing free medical care for them, the health education is already going on, scan the pregnant women free of charge, carry out testing on HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, malaria, typhoid, and we will provide drugs for them.”
“All these medical interventions is for us to be able to nip in the bud some medical conditions that might be severe.”
“We will screen the women for cervical and breast cancer, anyone that we notice has any issue, we will do our best to manage or refer to the appropriate level of care.”
So we want to use the little resources that we have to support these indigent communities, Ezie said.
A beneficiary, Mrs Salamatu Musa, appreciated the clubs and the hospital for organizing the medical outreach in their community.
Musa said, “They taught us many things, how to breastfeed our babies when we give birth, how to take care of them properly and be neat.”
FCT Miss Nightingale 2023, Ms Victoria Soyomoku, gave a health talk to the beneficiaries.
