Over 250 patients benefit from NMA free medical outreach in Kebbi
Dr Murtala Muhammad-Dandare, the Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), in Kebbi, said that over 250 patients have benefited from the free medical outreach by its association in the state.
Dr Muhammad-Dandare, made this known at the After General Meeting (AGM) one-day free medical outreach in Gwadangwaji community of Birnin Kebbi Local Government Area on Saturday.
He said that the outreach, which was organised in collaboration with the Kebbi State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KECHEMA), was aimed at providing free and quality healthcare service to people in the state.
“As a mark of annual general meeting every year, we organised the free medical outreach in collaboration with KECHEMA.
“We conducted other outreaches in other LGAs, but the bigger outreach is coming where we will conduct free surgeries and see out patients.
“For the current outreach now, We intend to limit the number of patients to 250 and record those that require surgeries and keep them for the subsequent outreach to come,” he said.
Muhammad-Dandare said that members of the association attended to different dental and gynaecological cases in addition to awareness campaign for cancer patients, especially cervical cancer.
“We rely solely on our members’ monthly contribution; and sometimes philanthropists and organizations come to assist.
” Interns of procurement of drugs and some logistics, we really appreciate KECHEMA and thank them for their efforts and assistance,” he said.
Muhammad-Dandare called on the state government to assist the association in order to expand the outreach to remote communities in the state.
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In his remarks, Dr Jafar Muhammad-Augie, the Executive Secretary of KECHEMA, said that their main objective was to ensure universal healthcare coverage and equity in accessing care for all residents of the state.
“The most important thing today, if it is not hunger, is health; because healthcare is so expensive that not everyone can afford it.
“A lot of people are in need of healthcare services but they cannot access it; therefore, any organisation that is ready to assist our people in that respect, it is just natural for us to put hands together to see that they achieve success in that direction,” he said.
Alhaji Umaru Ahmad, the District Head of Gwadangwaji, thanked NMA and KECHEMA for providing free healthcare service to the people in the area, especially less- privileged and vulnerable people.
Malama Hafsat Murtala, one of the patients who received free drugs, said the free drugs provided to her had relieved her of financial burden in treating her ailments and expressed hope the outreach would be extended and sustained.
