Aisha Buhari inaugurates NYSC mobile clinic, rural dwellers health initiative

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3 years ago

Aisha Buhari

The First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari on Tuesday inaugurated the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) mobile clinic.

She also flag-off the NYSC’s first quarter 2022 Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) an initiative that was conceptualized in 2014 to provide accessible, free and timely healthcare intervention to Nigerians especially rural dwellers.

In her address, Mrs Buhari who spoke through Mrs Mairo Al-Makura said the donation and delivery of the mobile clinic was geared towards complementing the Scheme’s effort at delivering quality healthcare services to Nigerians especially rural dwellers.

“Like other Nigerians, I observed with great admiration, the critical role the NYSC played in the effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the peak of the surge in 2020.

“The intervention of the medical corps personnel who joined other frontline health workers, as well as thousands of other corps members that produced and distributed items such as face masks, hand sanitisers, liquid soaps food and other palliatives further underscored the relevance of the scheme and heightened our hope in the NYSC,” she said.

While calling on Federal and State legislators to include the provision of drugs as well as other medical consumables and logistics for the NYSC health initiatives for rural dwellers, she said,” this would improve the healthcare services which the team renders to their communities.”

She further stressed the need for programmes of the NYSC that are targeted at improving the lives of Nigerians, including its rural health programme, the HIRD, to be strengthened through the goodwill and support of all well-meaning citizens.

Earlier, the NYSC Director-General, Major General Shuaibu Ibrahim said since the commencement of the NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers, over four million rural dwellers have been reached in communities across the thirty-six states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

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“The programme brings together Corps Medical Doctors, Optometrists, Pharmacists, Nurses and other health specialists for medical outreaches that usually feature sensitization on health matters, free consultation, diagnosis, treatment and referrals.

“In the course of the programme implementation, we have enjoyed the support of some Government Agencies, non-governmental organizations and philanthropists through the supply of drugs and other medical consumables”, Ibrahim stated.

He commended the First Lady for the donation of the NYSC Mobile Clinic, saying it is another significant step in her unrelenting efforts to contribute to the well-being of ordinary citizens, especially women and children, as illustrated through the activities of her pet project, “The Future Assured”.

“With this gesture, our resolve to mobilize the young men and women of the Service Corps for humanitarian activities has been further strengthened, and the impact of our healthcare services to the rural poor, in particular, will be deepened.”

To this end, he assured that the medical facility will be judiciously utilized for the benefit of Nigerians, while also calling on other public-spirited individuals and organizations to emulate the First Lady by extending technical, material and financial support for the smooth and wider execution of the NYSC rural health initiative.

The Director-General also reiterated his advocacy for the establishment of the NYSC Trust Fund, which would enable the Scheme to provide essential facilities such as additional mobile clinics, medical equipment, as well as adequate drugs and other medical consumables for the benefit of the citizenry.

“It will also make our Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Programme (SAED) more functional through the provision of adequate training facilities and start-up financing for the young entrepreneurs that will emerge from the programme,” he stated.