Over 3,000 benefit from Oyo SACA medical outreach

No less than 3,000 individuals benefited from a two-day free medical outreach by Oyo State Agency for Control of HIV.AIDS as part of its efforts to ensure zero level of new HIV infection cases and treatment for persons living with HIV.

Oyo SACA’s community mobilisation officer, Mr Olufemi Oyeniyi speaking at the quarterly free medical outreach at the old Olubadan’s palace at Oja Oba in Ibadan South East Local Government, was part of Oyo SACA’s intervention to ensure people access care even while at work.

The inclusion of other services like malaria test and treatment, blood pressure and body mass index (BMI) measurements, aside HIV testing and counselling, into the medical outreach, he said was to ensure a comprehensive care at the outreach.

According to Mr Oyeniyi, “In the past, it used to be HIV/AIDS counselling and testing alone, but experience had taught us that interventions on other common diseases like malaria need to be included so that they can know their health status.”

He said that persons that test positive to malaria parasite will be given free malaria medicines and those with high blood pressure will be referred to appropriate hospitals for care.

Oyeniyi added that the agency was ensuring that all persons that test positive for HIV are linked with the respective LACA officers in the area for them to commence ARV treatment immediately.

According to him, “This is not facility-based because Nigerians do not have the culture of going to the hospital. Take the case of polio, its vaccine is being taken to people in the community. That is what we are doing, we want HIV testing and counselling to be close to the people. Most people in this area are market men and women and they will not want to leave their business, thus the choice of Oja Oba.”