Ogun offers free paediatric surgery for 200 children

The Ogun State Government through the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, in collaboration with Leicester Children’s Hospital, is providing free paediatric surgery to 200 indigent children in the state.

This was disclosed by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr Oluwabunmi Fatungase, on Monday, at the commencement of a five-day free surgery, held at the hospital premises.

According to her, the programme would also allow the state government to reduce medical tourism and give the less privileged the opportunity to be treated and operated upon without paying a dime.

Fatungase said children with medical cases such as hernia and hydrocele, undescended testes, hypospadias, hirschsprung disease, anorectal malformations and lumps and swelling, would be given free surgery.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, noted that the exercise is an epoch-making moment for the teaching hospital and the country as a whole, stressing that the target of the exercise is about two hundred and fifty indigent children.

Coker, while noting that the exercise was only made possible as a result of the leadership style of Governor Dapo Abiodun which has encouraged collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation, thanked the governor for his extensive investment in the hospital which she said has gingered philanthropists to collaborate with the state in upgrading infrastructure and investing in modern medical equipment.

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Declaring the programme open, Governor Dapo Abiodun said his administration would continue to do all it can to improve the quality and service delivery of medical personnel in the state.

Abiodun added that his administration would further explore how to deepen the relationship and collaboration between the state government and the Leicester Children’s Hospital.

The governor pointed out that the medical outreach programme is a noble initiative that his administration would continue to support for the all-round benefit of the state.

“This marks a new relationship between Ogun State and the Leicester Children’s Hospital, and we are going to further explore how to deepen that relationship and collaboration.

“We will continue to do everything to improve the quality and service delivery of our medical personnel, we will also continue to deal with everything that we can to improve the lot and life of our people,” he said.

Abiodun said that his administration had in the last three years grown the number of ambulances from five to over fifty, adding that the ambulances are being supported by tricycle ambulances which have the capacity to access the primary health care centres where vehicle ambulances cannot reach.

The governor who further disclosed that his administration has provided the primary health care centres with technology so that gathering, storing and sharing of data between the primary, secondary and tertiary health care centres are made easy, said that the use of technology keys to his administration’s developmental pillars.