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•The Patriots Club holds medical outreach in Ebonyi community, amid prevalence of arthritis, diabetes, BP, others
From Magnus Eze, Enugu
No fewer than 500 people in Uburu community of Ohaozara Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, have benefitted from a free medical outreach by a non-governmental and non-profit group in the area, known as The Patriots Club of Uburu.
•Some members of the club
The programme, which they organized in collaboration with David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital (DUFUTH) in the community, featured health education, malaria screening, de-worming of children, eye examination, blood pressure check, consultation and counselling, diabetes screening, hepatitis B and C screening and HIV screening.
Elderly and middle-aged people were the major beneficiaries of the medical outreach. They were diagnosed of arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, eye issues and other non-communicable diseases associated with aging, during the medical service, while children under 10 years were administrered wormed expellants and given other treatments.
There was free distribution of medicines after the health issues of the beneficiaries were identified during screening by the team of medical experts that carried out the exercise.
A member of The Patriots Club of Uburu, Dr. Sam Obasi, explained that the outreach was a way of giving back to the community.
He noted that people resident in the community were mostly the elderly and many of them on their own could not go to hospital for medical checks until they were critically ill, which necessitated the free medical mission.
Obasi, who is a director at the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Abuja, said: “This outreach is in the form of giving back to our community. We are the Patriots Club of Uburu that comprises young men from Uburu community who are resident in different parts of the country and we came together to give back to our community.
“We felt that one of the easiest and far-reaching ways of giving back to the community is to organize a medical outreach, because the people resident in this community are mostly the elderly, both men and women, and most of them on their own cannot just stand up and go to a hospital until they are critically ill.
“So, we feel it is proper to avail them this opportunity to have their complaints attended to without cost. As you can see, the response is very impressive.”
He identified pains of the body, arthritis, high blood pressure and diabetes as common ailments in the community. He noted that the ranking of Ebonyi State in terms of nutrition may not be heartwarming, but it might not be as bad as reported.
“In this community, it is mostly the middle-age and the elderly population, and their complaints range from pains of the body and arthritis. The next is high blood pressure, diabetes. These are the problems of aging, non-communicable diseases, and it is usually more prevalent in a population that consist of the middle-aged and the elderly. So, what we are seeing in this medical outreach is non-communicable diseases.
“I do not agree that Ebonyi is the poorest in terms of nutrition in the country. I don’t want to believe it. We may have issues of malnutrition in Ebonyi State but that is not to say that it is the worst in the country and it needs further investigation. We need to find out where the problem is and then map out means of addressing the problem,” he said.
One of the medical doctors that carried out the exercise, Dr. Eze Chukwu, said he decided to volunteer his skills to support the outreach for the well-being of the community.
He described the programme as well organized, with many sections, including the nursing section, lab section, pharmacy section, consulting section, health education section where people were taught how to take care of their health, and other sections.
Some of the beneficiaries were Njoku Ajah, 80, from Umuchima in the community who has eye problems, diabetes and arthritis, Roseline Orie, 70, from Ogbuoma Umunaga, with eye problems, body pains and fever, and Christiana Nweze, 66, from Amenu, who also has eye problems, chest and back pains. They commended the group for organizing the free medical outreach and prayed God to bless them.
They opined that they would not have received medical care without the group’s benevolence as, according to them, they had no money to take care of their health.
“I am very happy that these our children have remembered us; they’ve come to help us. With what they have done today, they have extended my life and I am sure it is the same with many others here. At least, they listened to me and gave me drugs. My son, with this, I am sure that I will live longer. I pray that they don’t relent. Other groups should emulate them. Life in a rural place like this is not easy, especially with the current hardship in Nigeria,” Ajah said.
