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Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
it was a moment of excitement in some communities in Osun State recently when Favour, Kindness and Grace Foundation (FKGF), took free healthcare service to the doorsteps of the indigents numbering about 1.5 million. At Gbongan in Ayedaade Local Government Area, where the outreach was flagged off, the beneficiaries trooped out in large numbers to the community hall where a mobile hospital made available by the foundation, was positioned, to avail themselves of the opportunity of the healthcare delivery.
Among them were septuagenarians, octogenarians, market men, women, the physically-challenged, unemployed youths and retirees who could not access nor afford qualitative health care due to poverty and unavailability of public medical facilities in the areas.
Consultants from the Department of Clinical Sciences of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, who worked in collaboration with the NGO, operated at the mobile hospital, which was well equipped with modern medical facilities and drugs for on-the-spot treatment of diagnosed cases.
The service delivery began with high blood pressure (HBP) test after which beneficiaries were given opportunities to consult the medical doctors on duty. Some beneficiaries diagnosed of critical cases, especially those that required surgery were, however, referred to designated hospitals for a comprehensive attention. Several others whose cases were not severe were given immediate treatment.
The ailments diagnosed included prostate cancer, renal failure, cataract, malaria, typhoid and diabetes. Eye tests were also conducted and free glasses were given to those diagnosed of vision impairment.
The personnel also offered counselling services to the beneficiaries bordering on the need to embark on frequent medical check-up, the side effects and dangers of self medication, illicit use of herbal medicine and orthodox off counter drugs that are not NAFDAC-approved.
The leader of the medical team and Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Professor Bernice Adegbeingbe, cautioned the beneficiaries to desist from self-medication but always endeavour to consult a qualified doctor or nurse whenever they fall sick.
Project coordinator of the foundation, Mr Goke Olatunji, told Daily Sun: “We all know how important medical check-up is. We believe in going to the interior parts of the communities where we will get more values by imparting the lives of those that have not yet received or barely receive the right medical attention.
“People manage different ailments and diseases in the interior parts of the communities in wrong ways, but with the medical outreach, a lot of them were able to get proper expertise counseling and qualitative medical care for their ailments.” Rural communities that benefitted from the outreach included Odeomu, Orile Owu, Ikire, Apomu, Odeyinka, Ikoyi and Iwo.
Dr. Dotun Babayemi, sponsor of the programme said: “There is a limit to what government can do for the people, especially the less privileged. We cannot wait for them to do everything. That is why I decided to bankroll the programme to cater for the health needs of those who cannot afford quality health care service.
“Some less privileged people cannot even afford to see a doctor once in a year even if they are sick. Most people depend on herbal medicine, especially in the rural dwellings and the hinterlands. The health of most people is at risk. That is why we decided to take health care service to the door steps of the people in some selected communities.
“The rising death toll in most of the remote areas is due to lack of access to quality health care. But since we introduced the intervention about five years ago, a lot of lives have been saved.”
He disclosed that the health care intervention would reach out to not less than 50,000 people across all the local government areas in the state in the next three months. He also said that the foundation would continue to require the services of medical experts from OAU, Ile-Ife.
Olayemi Awoyifa, a septuagenarian who introduced himself as a retiree, said for the past one year since he retired as a teacher, he had not been able to access a qualitative health care service despite that he had been suffering from diabetes.
He lamented that it was medications recommended to one of his friends in the same condition who has access to good health care delivery at his National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)-accredited hospital that he, too buys to treat himself.
He commended the NGO for the intervention and the comprehensive treatment he got during the medical outreach.
Another beneficiary, Mrs. Jumoke Olayinka, a widow, said:
“The medical service brought to our doorstep is a blessing to me. It as if God directed them to me in particular. I have been having eye problem for a long time. I have been given different eye glasses by one eye clinic I have been using. But all the treatments failed. But with the kind of treatment I got today from this programme, I think my condition will soon improve because I have never been given such a good treatment before.”
