Residents of Gbara Maiyegun community in Eti-Osa local council of Lagos State have showered praises on the Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1, District 9110, for its health interventions in the area.
The residents spoke recently when the club, in conjunction with Chike Okoli Foundation, conducted free health screenings for them at the Gbara Maiyegun Health Centre.
The health screening included blood sugar, blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI) and cholesterol checks. The club also offered free eye examinations and eye care medications to the residents even as it also distributed mosquito nets to them as a measure to curb the prevalence of malaria in the area.
Speaking with The Guardian, one of beneficiaries, Mrs. Samiat Alatise, said: “I told them that my eyes were paining me so they checked me and gave me glass. They also diagnosed me with cough and fever and gave me drugs. They also gave me mosquito net. And it’s not only me; many people have benefitted.
“They did all these free of charge; I didn’t pay a kobo. What they have done has shown that some individuals still care for the downtrodden in society.”
I pray that God will continue to help them to provide this service to others and also bless them as they do so.”
In a chat with journalists, the Change Maker President of the club, Rotarian Ifeoma Anieze Corona, said the club has a culture of reaching out to communities within the Lekki environment that could not easily afford the cost of medical check up.
Her words: “Today we are providing health checks for members of the community. These include blood sugar, blood pressure and eye checks for residents of the community. After attending to them, we also give them mosquito net to prevent malaria. We have given out about 250 mosquito nets today. We also give glasses to those with minor eye problems and refer cases that can’t be handled here to the hospital.
We are providing these health checks free in conjunction with the Chike Okoli Foundation. We have been doing this for this community for sometime. We normally focus on communities around us who cannot afford the cost of health checks. And if you see the environment the people live in, you will know that they really need it. If you take this kind of programme to Lekki Phase 1, the impact would be less because the people who live there can easily afford the cost of health checks. So, if you want to really touch lives, you have to look for people who cannot afford those services.”
She added: “The best thing that can happen to you as a human being is to make other people smile. Giving is part of it; I personally love giving. So, being a Rotarian has only helped me to enlarge my coast. And the best thing is giving to people that can never say thank you to you. We hope to attend to over 100 people in this community today. Next Saturday, we will be doing the same thing in Ogombo community.”
She advised residents of the area to regularly visit the health centre in the community for medical check up, noting that if they do that, whatever ailments they might have would not get worse.
“If you detect early that you have sugar or blood pressure problems, you would be properly advised on the remedies. But most people don’t go for medical check ups. That is why people would just slump and sometimes it’s too late,” she said.The club’s Project Chair, Dr. Lateef Olowale Ogungbemi, in his comments, urged the government to equip the primary health centre in the community to ensure improved provision of health care to the residents.He also called for increased advocacy on non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes, especially in communities that have elderly population like Gbara Maiyegun.On her part, the Programme Coordinator, Chike Okoli Foundation, Obiageli Adimachukwu, said the Foundation partners with Rotary Club yearly for the free medical outreach. The Foundation was set up to tackle cardiovascular diseases. Chike died as a result of an undetected cardiovascular disease. So every year we go on free medical outreach in partnership with Rotary Club. We create awareness about cardiovascular diseases because many people don’t really know they have such diseases. So, we screen them for blood sugar, blood pressure, Body Mass Index (BMI) and cholesterol. We come with the doctors; we provide the drugs free. We have been doing this since the past 16 years,” she said
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