By Abubakar Yakubu, Abuja
About 200 Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) were on Thursday given free medical treatment during a medical outreach/ humanitarian service programme organized by the International organization of Tijaniyyah Brotherhood (IOTB) in conjunction with the Tijaniyyah Muslim Students Association of Nigeria (TIMSAN) at the IDPs Camp in Area 1, Abuja.
A member of the organisation’s medical team, Shittu Ibrahim, said majority of those treated suffered from malaria, while others had gastric intestinal disorder, malnourishment, skin disorder, hypertension, infection and diabetics, among others.
He said no patient was referred and that prescriptions were given to those whose drugs were not available in the medical team’s stock. Speaking earlier, the Wome Leader in the IDPs camp, Liyatu Ayuba, commended the gesture and said many people have died in the camp due to minor illness..
“Within the last two months we lost so many children and the doctors will say we don’t have balanced diet or are suffering from blood shortage,” she lamented.
She said it would take between N40,000 to N50,000 to conduct tests in hospitals and people in the camp cannot afford it.
Leader of the medical team, Abubakar Danraka, disclosed that the gesture is part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility during their annual general meeting.
According to him, the medical exercise consisted of physical examination, health talk, prescription as well as distribution of sanitary pads and medicated soaps to 500 persons.
He said the team would have come with adequate drugs to take care of more than 500 persons, adding that they also came with drugs for children.
Those who benefited from the programme were nursing mothers, children and the elderly people in the camp.