Ogun govt begins free surgery intervention programme for 70,000 residents

The Ogun State Government has started the process of offering free surgical services to 70,000 residents of the state.

The Executive Secretary of Ogun State Health Insurance Agency, Dr Afolabi Dosunmu, stated this at the flag-off of registration for the intervention held at the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, on Monday.

Dosumu said the intervention was a directive given by Governor Dapo Abiodun to provide succour to the people at this difficult time.

He said hospitals in the state are ready to carry out the directive of the governor.

“The modalities are very simple; as long as you are a resident of the state, as long as you have one surgical need or another, you are free to walk into any of our state or general hospitals and enrol in the insurance scheme.

“The doctors there will assess if it is a case that is ready for surgery, and once all other perimeters have been concluded, we will get the surgery done.”

He said those whose cases are not ready for immediate surgery would be enrolled so they would have access to the intervention when they were ready.

He added: “It is possible for someone to have, for example, cataracts, and if the cataract is not yet mature, we will still enrol the person. We will give the person a date for when the cataract is going to mature.

“For example, if you want to remove fibroid when you see the doctor and the doctor says your electrolyte is a bit high or your blood pressure is a little bit high, it needs to be controlled before you can be taken in for surgery,” Dr Dosunmu explained.

The Executive Secretary noted that surgery operations would start on Tuesday as there were a lot of cases that needed urgent attention.

“We have a matching mandate from the governor for us to enrol 70,000 people, and it is broken down to 20,000 pregnant women till they deliver, even if the delivery is through a caesarean section. When the child is delivered, in the first six months, we will take care of its medical needs.

“We have also been asked to enrol 20,000 market women and 30,000 poor people in the state. Among the 70,000, any other person in the state that needs surgery has to come down and get their surgery done.”

He lauded the state governor for impacting directly on the lives of the people, saying, “Everything is free from the moment they walk in and get enrolled, screened, and do tests, as well as the surgery and even after surgery.”

Also speaking, Mrs Olusola Akintola, a retired secondary school principal, commended Governor Abiodun for the programme, saying it would help the less privileged take care of their medical bills, while Mr Semiu Koleosho said he enrolled in the programme to enable his son to benefit from the free surgery.