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Ademola Aderemi
President of the Goldcrest Family Centre (GCFC), Reverend Agatha Chukwura, has advocated free health care services for people at the grassroots.
She spoke recently during the 2019 edition of the Free Health Care Summit organised by the non-governmental organisation, at the Oworonshoki Health Centre, Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State. Many residents of the area participated in the exercise.
In her speech, Chukwura told the people that the intention of the organisers was to bring healthcare to the people at the grassroots, as many residents were unable to get medical attention because of the harsh economic situation of the country.
She noted also that the NGO had earlier embarked on a week-long sensitisation tour to intimate the people of the community about the programme.
Chukwura explained that the best way to help the community was to give succour to them at the time of their need, stressing that money spent in maintaining one’s health was far less than the amount spent on treatment or taking care of health problems. She urged the people to always take good care of their health.
The GCFC leader noted further that the organisation had to partner with some companies in order to offer the services. She explained that the medical consultants were also volunteers who had been of great help to the organisation.
“For instance, there are relatively certain factors responsible for health crises, and part of these factors is basically a lack of regular consultations. At a certain stage in life, every individual needs to monitor his or her health, because, if he or she doesn’t, such an individual may end up spending more when issues arise as a result of lack of proper monitoring.
“It is on this note that our organisation has decided to offer free health care facilities for the people of this area. We do this annually. Fortunately, Oworonshoki is our destination this year, and I will like to commend the people of this community for turning out en masse for this exercise,” she said.
“The turnout was impressive and I think people are beginning to understand that there is need for them to undergo certain checks and monitor their health. It is a milestone in the lives of the people of this community. On our part, we know government cannot do it alone. So, as an NGO that touches peoples’ lives and makes good impact in the society, we need to join hands with the government and see how we can make the people happy,” she said.
Mr. Anthony Chimezie, who represented the Sam Ohuabunwa Foundation for Economic Empowerment, said he was impressed by the efforts of the organisers. He noted that the free health facilities would help residents to know their health status and get treated at no cost.
“This is the way to go, because everybody will like to identify with the organisers of this laudable programme. It is when you offer people this kind of service free of charge that you begin to see the failures in the health sector. All over the developed world, healthcare services usually go for free because good health services take the centre stage in governance. This kind of service, ordinarily, is supposed to be free, but here in Nigeria people spend through their nose to get this kind of service. That is why we must applaud the leadership of Goldcrest Family Centre for offering this special service to the people of this community,” he said.
Apart from giving the people regular health tips, other services offered at the summit included eye test, blood sugar screening, HIV/AIDS screening and cancer screening.
One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Mr. Ajayi Abiodun, expressed gratitude to the management of GCFC. He said the exercise had made positive impacts on the community.
“It is the first time that an NGO will cater to the health needs of the people of this community. Today, we are able to run different tests like blood pressure, HIV/AIDS and others. And drugs were given accordingly. It is wonderful being part of this programme,” he said.
Chukwura expressed gratitude to the firms that partnered with her organisation for the programme, “At GCFC, we invest in widow’s welfare. We support indigent and less privileged students in the state. We also provide free healthcare services for the people at the grassroots. All these initiatives are meant to reduce poverty and ensure that people live healthy lives. It is an annual programme across all the LGAs in the state.”
