No fewer than 1,000 indigenes of Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State will benefit from the free medical outreach by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Princess Aminat Elegushi (PAE) Foundation, in partnership with the Lagos State Government.
The founder of PAE, Aminat Elegushi, said this at the opening ceremony of the medical outreach held at Gbara Junior Secondary School, Eti-Osa, on Thursday.
Elegushi said that the initiative was to complement government’s efforts in bringing healthcare to the doorsteps of the people.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the medical outreach tagged “Eti-Osa Medical Mission”, will hold on Aug. 25, Aug. 27 and Aug. 31 at designated centres within the community.
“Health is wealth and the brain behind this is that government can’t do it alone, we need to support the government in bringing healthcare to the people, which is part of what Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s agenda is all about.
“In 2019 when the state government disaggregated people living with HIV, Eti-Osa topped the list.
“So, we also want to complement the Lagos State Aids Control Agency to ensure that we test our indigenes to see if they are on this list and also to bring them to care.
“I am a daughter of Eti-Osa, it is really important to me and I believe in doing so much for the community,” she said.
Elegushi, who noted that the outreach which was purely for Eti-Osa indigenes, would have the people tested for malaria, cancer. hypertension, HIV, hepatitis, diabetes, COVID-19 and tuberculosis.
She said other services to be rendered by the health personnel included, medical consultation, provision of drugs/eye glasses, COVID vaccination, chest X-ray, among others.
According to her, PAE will also sponsor 100 indigenes to benefit from the state’s health insurance scheme, “Ilera Eko”.
In his remarks, Dr Tunde Ajayi, the Special Assistant on Health to Gov. Sanwo-Olu, said, “there was a study that had said HIV was prevalent in Eti-Osa and events like this are aimed at targeting and managing people’s perception and treatment and how serious they take their health, particularly the HIV.
“So, we have the Lagos State Aids Control Agency here doing free checks, advising and counseling people as soon as they test.”
He commended Elegushi for the initiative, saying that it would in no small way make people conscious of their health, particularly the insurance aspect of the mission.
“You see, insurance is paramount on the list of services you must subscribe to in any environment at all and bringing insurance here is an amazing thing, it’s super amazing.
“So, I would like to commend her again, more grease to her elbow, and obviously encourage more people who are able to bring innovative and key interventions like this to the community they came from,” he said.
Also, the CEO, Lagos State Aids Control Agency, Dr Monsurat Adeleke, who was represented by Dr Oladipupo Fishaya, said that the agency was working on strategic ways to reduce the prevalence of HIV in Eti-Osa community and other communities with high prevalence.
“Lagos State happens to be the only state in the federation that has HIV prevalence disintegrated by local government.
“This survey was conducted in 2018 and Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu actually disseminated this in December 2019 and Eti-Osa happens to have the highest prevalence followed by Ikeja, Ajeromi and Epe,” Adeleke said.
Olasupo Adedimeji, the National President of Eti-Osa Indigenous Students’ Association, also a partner of the medical outreach, urged the people to keep their environment clean to prevent getting infected with diseases.
A beneficiary, Mr Hakeem Aribidesi commended the initiative, saying it had always been part of what the indigenes wanted.
“I had problem reading, also seeing became difficult for me especially at night, so, I came here for this test and my eyes were tested and an eyeglass was recommended for me,” he said.
Another beneficiary, Taibat Ariyo, a petty trader, also commended the foundation and the health personnel for the free health services rendered. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
