Medical Directors of various private hospitals in Bauchi State under the aegis of Guild of Medical Directors of Private Hospitals of Nigeria have donated blankets to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) taking refuge in Bauchi as part of their corporate social responsibility especially in this cold season.
While presenting the materials to the displaced persons at their settlement in Rindiben village of Bauchi local government area, State Chairman of the group and Medical Director of PAHLYCON Hospital, Bauchi, Dr Hassan Mohammed Garba, said that the blankets were donated to the beneficiaries particularly women and children to protect their bodies against the harsh weather.
He explained that: “We felt it is fair for us to look for how we can assist them with something to cover their bodies not only telling people how to cover themselves in order to take precautions against illness which will take its cause on the people.”
“Harmattan is harsh weather. It is cold, dry and dusty. There are so many small children around. If they don’t have protective coverings when they sleep, they will wake up with running nose, cough, catarrh and before you know it, pneumonia starts killing these children. So we want to do something to prevent that not necessarily vaccination but just cover their skins. That is why we brought these materials,” he further said.
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Mohammed Garba added that the Guild of Medical Directors of private hospitals made the donation in conjunction with the ZIKORA foundation and advised the general public to be wearing protective clothes, keeping their skins greased, eating oily foods, fatty foods, cow milk as some of the measures of coping with the season.
The Medical Doctor added, “In this season, we don’t advise people to take a lot of cold water but warm foods, oily foods are very important. So this is not a season to consume a lot of carbohydrates. People should consume proteins, fatty foods are very essential. Groundnuts, Peanuts are very good sources of oils for the body.”
While responding, one of the beneficiaries Abaye Abubakar thanked the guild of medical directors for the gesture saying the blankets came at the right time.
He also appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register them and establish a polling unit in the settlement to enable them to exercise their franchise during elections like other citizens of the state.
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