Rotary Club of Rockcity offers free medical services to over 500 beneficiaries in Ogun

Omobolaji Adekunle

In commemoration of Rotary Family Health Day, an event organised by Rotary Club of Rockcity under Rotary District 9110 in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation  offered free medical services to over 500 beneficiaries in Abeokuta communities.

The exercise which held at Kugba Primary Health Care Centre, Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital benefitted ten communities which included Oke-Aregba, Adatan, Oke-Odo, Labawa, Igbaru,  Kugba and other neighboring Communities.

Rotary family Health day is a day set aside by Rotary International to offer free  health care services, health promotion talks and distribution of disease prevention materials to families which form the basic units of every community.

The event was well organized with registration booths for beneficiaries, blood pressure measurement stands, and several fundamental blood tests were carried out to screen beneficiaries for Malaria, Hepatitis B and HIV for consenting individuals. Diabetes screening was also done.

Medical Doctors and other healthcare professionals were on ground to consult and offer professional services to beneficiaries.

Items such as Insecticide treated mosquito nets for nursing and pregnant mothers, sanitary pads and some basic medications were given free to people.

Health promotion talks on the importance of good personal hygiene as a veritable means of preventing diseases was given by Rtn (Dr) Moses Olanrewaju who is also a member of Rotary club of Rockcity.

Speaking with journalists the President of the club, Rtn (Engr) Gbolagoke Oluleke Adebiyi explained the aims and objectives of the exercise and the need to have this kind of gesture in the society, urging the government at all levels to ensure easy access and affordable healthcare to people.

According to him “Rotary family health day is one of the projects tagged for the health of the smallest unit of the society which is family. The purpose is to provide succour to the family which plays a pivotal role in any community.

This is why Rotary International gives family health all the attention it deserves because Rotary International is known for service to humanity.

The president  expressed satisfaction with the turn out of people; “this implies that people need more  access to free and affordable health care services,” he said.

“If this kind of service comes up often, a lot of families that don’t have the privilege to go to hospital due to their economic conditions would have the opportunity to complain about their health and benefit a lot. They would be able to use the avenue to express themselves about what they are going through to doctors

“My advice to the government is to make health care services affordable for the masses, especially the less privileged. When the health care is affordable for people, health-seeking behaviors will be prompt thereby forestalling preventable complications.”

He however appreciated all members of the Club and volunteers who participated in the exercise.

Further more, a medical consultant and member of the Club, Rtn (Dr) Moses Olanrewaju reiterated the choice of the venue saying:

“We chose Kugba Health Centre for this year’s Family Health Day because of the economic situation in the country and there is a need to extend our hands of service to the communities.

“We have carried out many basic health clinic tests and we have really detected a lot of diseases running among the members of the community. People that will need further specialist care are appropriately referred to the nearest secondary or tertiary health institutions like State Specialist Hospital, Ijaye or Federal Medical Centre, Idi-aba.

“Some non-communicable diseases have also been detected and have been appropriately referred. Also, patients have been adequately counselled on the need to seek health at appropriate health facilities in order to safeguard their health. We can confidently say that Rotary has positively impacted this community and we are sure that the services rendered have improved the health of families,” he added

The community head, Alhaji Lateef Muiz appreciated the members of Rotary Club of Rockcity for their kind gesture, stating that some members of family who could not have opportunity to go for medical check-ups due to financial constraint have been able to do so through this and have benefited a lot from the exercise.

On behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr. Soliu Yusuf expressed his pleasure over the exercise which he described as an avenue that has enabled people to know what they don’t know about their health, adding that the exercise has been very useful for the vulnerable people in the communities.