No fewer than 500 people in eight communities in Ido Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State benefited from the free medical outreach organised by Rotary Club, Ibadan Jericho Metro.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the outreach, held on Monday at Ladunni village in Ido LGA, had seven other villages as beneficiaries.
Mr Oluseye Diyan, President, Rotary Club Ibadan Jericho Metro, said the programme was one of the projects for the 2022/2023 rotary year.
Diyan stated that the Club, in partnership with a number of other sponsors, organised the outreach to cater for the health of people in the rural area.
He said 500 community members from eight communities in Batake, Ladunni and other villages around Ido LGA were beneficiaries.
“We have brought them here through the Primary Health Centre at Ladunni village for the free medical outreach.”
He said the essence was to provide medical facilities for the members of the communities in very far away from town who didn’t have any medical facilities around them.
“We are here to kick start the project, hoping that the healthcare facility would come alive. The Oyo State Government would send medical personnel to the centre.
“Members of the community are being tested for malaria, blood sugar, blood pressure and deworming.
About 20 doctors are on ground and other medical personnel, volunteers from University College Hospital and the United United States of America are all available.
“This is our own way of doing Rotary business and helping the less privileged, thereby putting a smile on the faces of people in the rural areas,” Diyan said.
“We have liaised with the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme (OYSHIA) to sensitise people to the need for them to have health insurance and we will also pay for the health insurance scheme of a good number of them to kick-start this process.”
One of the partners who organised the outreach, Dr Kemi Sanni, Founder of ConnectDcare Inc. USA, said the foundation started in 2013 in conjunction with other partners, in collaboration with Ogun, Oyo and Lagos Governments.
“From our statistical research, we found out that local areas like this don’t have access to healthcare and even those that are in the city that do have access cannot afford it.
“This is just a supplement to help our people because not everyone can afford healthcare.”
Sanni stated that it was imperative for people to have regular check ups twice a year and minimum once a year.
She said 90 per cent of those examined were hypertensive and wondered how they kept going about with high blood pressure.
Also, Dr Sola Akande, Executive Secretary, OYSHIA, stated that partnership with the government was inevitable to enhance quality healthcare delivery.
Akande noted that with enrollment into the scheme, there would be funds to sustain the health care facility in the communities.
Some beneficiaries of the service, Toyin Oladeji and Taye Adegbite, expressed gratitude to the organisers of the medical programme.
NAN reports that other partners for the outreach include Naykash Healthcare, Hope For All Inc, GHL Foundation, Ken and Sara George, Huston, Texas, USA.