The Federal Capital Territory Administration has carried out free medical services for over 3,370 residents in different areas of medical needs as part of its Renewed Hope Medical Mission in Bwari area council
The scope of the medical services provided includes health promotion, antenatal care (ANC), immunisation services, free HIV screening, screening for diabetes, hypertension and sickle cell diseases, free dental health services, and nutritional assessment, amongst others.
Flagging off the free medical outreach in Bwari area council, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, stressed that the FCT Administration is fully committed to meeting not just the people’s health needs but also the needs that would give the residents of the FCT the best health services.
Mahmoud noted that Nigeria is one of the African nations with high maternal and child morbidity and mortality resulting from poor ANC attendance, low facility-based delivery, and low uptake of immunisation and family planning services, especially in hard-to-reach communities.
She also noted that rapid population expansion leading to increased demand for health services has posed serious health challenges to the administration.
To address some of these identified challenges, the minister stressed the FCT Administration’s commitment to improving the primary healthcare system, such as renovation, upgrading, and building more primary health centres across the 6 area councils and the employment of more healthcare workers.
The minister used the occasion to speak on the danger signs in pregnancy, the importance of ANC attendance, exclusive breast feeding, the importance of immunisation in preventing childhood diseases such as polio, TB, pneumonia, pertussis, diphtheria, and measles, and the and the importance of screening for HIV, diabetes, and hypertension, amongst others.
Earlier, the Mandate Secretary Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, acknowledged that despite recent improvements in access to quality healthcare for residents of the Federal Capital Territory, many communities remain underserved.
She noted that free medical missions are global best practices used to provide targeted medical and surgical care to meet the health needs of the underserved and vulnerable populations.
“This strategy has been successfully adopted in many parts of Nigeria, and it takes healthcare directly to those who need it most through mobile health service delivery,” she added.
Fasawe emphasised that the success recorded in the last free medical outreach held in Kuje area council gave birth to the expansion of the 2024 medical mission.
According to her, “We attended to 1,578 general outpatients, with 42 referred to Wuse and Asokoro Hospitals for surgery.
“Dental services were provided to 302 patients, including 45 extractions, 12 dentures, and 5 operculectomies, with 48 referrals to Wuse Hospital.
“For eye care, we saw 931 patients, provided reading glasses to 531 of them, and made 91 referrals to Asokoro Hospital, where 29 cataract extractions have been completed. Antenatal care was provided to 74 women, with 49 enrolled in health insurance.”
The high point of the event was the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, who carried out consultations on some patients.
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