The Nation Newspaper

Tag: medical care

  • Foundation offers free medical care to 1,012 people in Enugu

    FOUNDATION for Energy Health International said it has given free medical checkup and care to 1,012 residents of Enugu State at the 2019 Technology and Innovation Expo in Enugu. The check-up and care was done in the areas of alternative medicine, energy health science, acupuncture, homoeopathy and energy health astropology among others. The aim was to give the residents that visited the foundation’s stand solutions to their health challenges.

    Speaking on the free healthcare rendered for five days on yesterday, the president of the foundation, Prof. Joseph Akpa, said they used latest technology and development in medicine to provide solutions on people’s ailment. He said:  “We used the latest development in alternative medicine and energy health science and technology, which is unique and clearly scientific in the treatment of human diseases, to provide people with solutions to their health challenges. “In these few days, we have clearly demonstrated, with positive results, how to solve various health problems and social maladies without the use of drugs, chemicals or weapons.

    “In these methods, there are no side effects, it is very effective and soothes all sexes and ages, with impressive personality at all times. “The current treatment types help the patients to develop immunity against diseases and strengthens their energy level.’’

    Akpa, who is a Professor of Alternative Medicine and Energy Health Science, said that bulk of the ailments treated included chronic malaria, pile and sexual infections. One of the beneficiaries, Mr Chinedu Obinna, said that the treatment of his pile ailment using the acupuncture treatment method was very effective. Another beneficiary, Miss Kate Okolie, said that she received treatment for chronic malaria that kept coming back at intervals even after treatment with conventional medicine. “I must thank the Foundation and Prof. Akpa for the kind gesture,’’ she said

  • Airlifting Medical Care—and Hope

    Airlifting Medical Care—and Hope

    During the past decade, a young woman has revolutionised emergency health care in West Africa.

    Few would have predicted that the first air ambulance service in West Africa would be launched by a 23-year-old woman. The year was 2007, and the woman was Dr. Ola Orekunrin (now Dr. Ola Orekunrin-Brown). Following a personal tragedy, she channeled her grief and courage into an initiative that has saved hundreds of lives.

    Born in England, she grew up in a small town in southeast England and went on to study medicine at the University of York. While she was completing her studies, her 12-year-old sister fell ill while vacationing with relatives in Nigeria. She needed to be airlifted to a hospital where she could get proper treatment, but to the great dismay of Dr. Orekunrin-Brown and her family, the closest air ambulance they could find was in South Africa. Her little sister died before help could arrive.
    It was anguishing for Dr. Orekunrin-Brown to know that her sister didn’t die because of her illness, she died because she couldn’t access treatment in time. The tragedy would stay with her as she completed her medical studies, graduating at age 21 to become one of the youngest doctors in the country. Once she started working, she began saving every penny she could with the idea of perhaps starting an air ambulance charity.


    She eventually traveled to Nigeria to take up the challenge, initially studying the models in other developing countries. She soon came to the conclusion that a business would be a better way to realise her goals, and she went about raising money—a considerable challenge for a young woman. She also had to deal with tedious bureaucratic processes and a host of other issues. With no business experience, she had to learn as she went, giving up many of the activities that young people in their twenties enjoy in order to devote herself to her project.
    Her drive and perseverance paid off, and before long she became the CEO of Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited. Her new company offered air evacuation services to the private and public sector as well as wealthy individuals, airlifting injured workers from offshore oil rigs, for example, or repatriating sick British expats.

    But with international evacuations costing about $60,000 and local evacuations about $20,000, she knew she needed to offer a more affordable option as well. She eventually came up with the idea of using unsold space on airlines, building special units that could easily be installed over a row of seats. The ingenious concept managed to bring the cost down to about $1,000, and has been a win-win for airlines and patients alike.

    Based in Lagos, Flying Doctors now has outposts across the country, with 20 charter aircraft and 44 doctors who deliver quality care en route, fulfilling the company’s promise to get “the right patient to the right facility within the right time frame.” Dr. Orekunrin-Brown has made a point of ensuring that her company’s services are available to people in remote areas of Nigeria, saving the critically ill as well as victims of car accidents, gunshot wounds or other traumas.
    To date, Flying Doctors Nigeria remains the only indigenous air ambulance service in West Africa and has transported some several hundred patients. The life-saving service has earned Dr. Orekunrin-Brown and her team numerous accolades and awards. Most recently, she won the 2018 Extraordinary Business Achievement Award presented by The Silverbird Group, a Nigerian multimedia company. She is the youngest person ever to win the prestigious distinction and the only woman to have done so in the past decade.
    She has also been named one of the “100 Lionesses of Africa”—extraordinary African women whose example serves to motivate and inspire other potential entrepreneurs. Speaking at their 2016 annual conference, she said, “Here’s to the women who will change the narrative of African women: May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.”

     

     

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  • 200 get free medical care

    No fewer than 200 residents of Epe have benefited from free a medical service.

    It was organised by the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Lagos State Area Unit as part of activities marking the end of its 104th yearly Islamic Vacation Course (IVC), a camping programme held at Human Capital Development Centre (HCDC) at Noforija, Epe.

    Beneficiaries were tested for  HIV, blood sugar, hepatitis, blood pressure and urinalysis.

    They got free drugs after the screening.

    Members of the community thanked the society for the initiative.

    Head of its Clinic Department, Dr. Abdul Wahab Egberongbe, said the outreach was to give Epe residents a sense of belonging.

    Egberongbe described the turn out for the event as encouraging.

    A beneficiary, Mr. Lawal Olabode Eletu, said the initiative met his expectations.

    He said after the tests “I came down to ascertain  few things about my health and I wasn’t disappointed. They took samples of my blood and urine while they  checked my blood pressure. At the end of it all, I was told everything is fine with me.”

    John Andrew, an interior designer, said the  outreach  could foster unity among  the people.

    “Programmes like these bring unity among us. My message is that other groups should emulate this kind of initiative,” he said.

    A woman, Mrs Praise Olusanya, who underwent series of tests with her husband and three children, said she was happy to have participated in the exercise.

    Her family members, she said,  had fruitful interactions with the medical consultants on issues bordering on their health.

    MSSN President Dr Saheed Ashafa said the society would continue to bring  more developmental programmes to the community.

  • 1,000 get medical care in Gombe

    1,000 get medical care in Gombe

    A member of the Gombe State House of Assembly representing Billiri East Constituency  Hon Rambi Ibrahim Ayala has lifted his constituency. He provided free medical care for 1,000 less privileged households in the area and also distributed 1,000 mosquito nets to them.

    Health programme which targeted less privilege 1,000 households brought together tens of Doctors from across the country. It created awareness on Hepatitis B and provided free testing due to the increasing Hepatitis B related death, screened and provided counselling for diabetes, did a lot of eye testing as well as various maternal and infant healthcare activities.

    There was also testing and counselling on HIV/AIDS.

    Dr. David Lass who led a team of medical doctors on the health mission said they diagnosed patients with different diseases and gave  them free drugs.

    Gombe state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Kennedy Ishaya who was on hand to flag off the activity commended the lawmaker and his collaborating non-governmental organisation, Hope Springs International for the outreach.

    Prior to the health mission, the lawmaker held a town hall meeting with the stakeholders of his constituency, where he interacted with the people with a view to knowing what they needed him to do more and do better for them

    Before this Ayala in collaboration with Hope Springs International had responded to trauma cases at the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Yola where they sank a water borehole.

    He said he was now working towards sinking another borehole in one of the schools heavily patronised by internally displaced children on the outskirts of Jalingo in Taraba State.

    Earlier, the Mai Tangle, Buba Maisheru II bestowed on him the traditional title of Gamzaki Tangale as a mark of honour and recognition for his services to the Tangale people.

    He said, “I don’t want to do something just for political reasons, I want to do something that will be sustainable and stand the test of time. We’ve started a skill acquisition centre which we hope will be up and running in no distant time.

    “We will be using that centre to empower our teeming youths, our women. It s a project that is financed by a donor agency, Hope Spring International of which I am a board member

    “My concern is humanity in general, not individuals or just my constituency. But within my constituency, as much as we have the opportunity, we will continue to be helpful at any rate.

    “I don’t want to do something just for political reasons, I want to do something that will be sustainable and stand the test of time. We’ve started a skill acquisition centre which we hope will be up and running in no distant time.

    “We will be using that centre to empower our teeming youths and our women because they deserve a better deal. The Centre is a project that is financed by a donor agency, Hope Spring International, where I am a board member.”

    Some beneficiaries of the one-day medical mission expressed their appreciation of the gesture which they said was the first of its kind by a lawmaker in the area.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Wanted: Better medical care

    About a year ago, after being on admission in a federal hospital that’s supposed to be one of the best public health institutions in the country, I wrote a four-part column on my experience.

    While I was grateful to God and the hospital for being discharged alive, unlike some other patients, I couldn’t resist sharing my experience for the benefit of whoever may have cause to be admitted there and draw the attention of the management and government to the need to improve on the services rendered.

    Considering the life and death nature of being on admission, I was very concerned about some of the lapses I noticed and lack of basic facilities needed to enhance the level of healthcare provided in the hospital. I could have written a lot more, but I didn’t want to create the wrong impression that there was nothing good about the hospital.

    Of course the hospital staffers were doing a lot to attend to the influx of patients, but with limited resources, they couldn’t do as much as they should do. How, for example, like I noted, would two nurses be able to cater for over twenty patients overnight? The inability of doctors to give enough attention to patients was obviously not their fault, but the large number of those they needed to attend to.

    To see such shortcomings that may have been responsible for some of the deaths recorded in the hospital and not write about them would have been insensitive on my part to the plight of many voiceless Nigerians not getting the right medical care they deserve.

    That was why I was shocked, though not surprised, to hear of the displeasure of the head of the institution about my carefully-worded true account of my experience. Obviously, his anger would have been that I exposed some of the inadequacies in the hospitals, but, for me, the life of the hundreds of patients seeking treatment in the institution is more precious than the cover up he would have preferred.

    There is no point creating the false impression about the medical services that do not exist. If the institution requires more funding and resources, the government needs to know from the patients if the staffers are unable to say so.

    I was told that the medical director claimed he has checked my medical records and I would soon be back at the mercy of the hospital. My response was that he should be told that he is not God. Like he should know, Doctors only care, it is God who heals.

    One year after, I am alive by God’s grace. I have been going for check-ups in the hospital and there is still need for improvement in the services rendered.

    The medial record-keeping system in the hospital is so disorganised that cases of missing files are not unusual.

    Instead of getting angry like I should have been last Thursday when my file could not be found and I had to get another appointment when, hopefully, it would have been found, I took pity on the staffers that have to check through piles of files where they are kept. It would be a miracle if some files don’t get missing once in a while given the filing system still in use in the hospital.

    I was told I should have photocopied my case notes to prevent losing my records as it may happen in this instance. Too bad I assumed that the records should be safe and well-kept considering the importance of the lifesaving information contained, but this is the sad situation I have found myself.

    The health of the citizens is too important for the government not to allocate adequate funds for it. The high cost of medicare in local private and foreign hospitals is not affordable for most Nigerians.

  • Chibok girls: FG will provide medical care – Minister

    Chibok girls: FG will provide medical care – Minister

    The Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole has said that the Federal Government has the capacity to provide quality medical care to the 21 released Chibok girls, and those to be released later.

    The Minister stated this when he visited the released Chibok girls in Abuja, to assess their wellbeing.

    He said that the girls were in one of the excellent medical facilities in Abuja, and a team of Medical Doctors, Nurses, Psychologists, Oncologist and other professionals from the Ministry, National Hospital and Federal Medical Centre, Jabi Abuja are attending to them.

    “This facility is one of the excellent facilities you can have around; we have assembled a team of professionals with support from National Hospital and Federal Medical Centre Jabi, Abuja to look after them.”

    The Minister said that the team would monitor the girls in the next couple of days to ensure that their health status improves, including paying attention to their nutritional support and subsequent integration into the society.

    Earlier, in his remarks, the Majority Leader, Senator Muhammad Ali Ndume, Senator Representing Borno South, Borno State commended the Federal Ministry of Health for their prompt response in the at provision of medical care to the girls immediately they were brought to the hospital.

    He said: ‘’ I was excited with at the level of response from the Federal Ministry of Health, it means that appropriate things have been done when the girls were brought here, that is why the responses are visible in them”.

    While calling on Nigerians to show love and support to the 21 released Chibok girls, he expressed delight that there is a clear difference between when they were brought into the hospital and now.

    “It is quite clear that their physical condition has improved and their health status has also improved,” he added.

  • Victims of violence get medical care in South Sudan

    About 40 victims of violence that recently occurred along the Ethiopia-South Sudan border have been admitted to a Red Cross-supported hospital in the Upper Nile region of South Sudan.

    This information is contained in a statement issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in Juba on Thursday.

    It said that Maiwut hospital was providing medical and surgical care to the wounded in the attacks in which nearly 200 people were killed and more than 100 children abducted.

    According to ICRC, many of the wounded, men, women and children are admitted to the hospital suffering from gunshot injuries as a result of the mid-April clashes along the Ethiopian border.

    “The team has been working non-stop to deal with the influx of patients”, said Chiyuki Yoshida, the ICRC hospital project manager in Maiwut.

    “Overcrowding is a challenge since the hospital also continues to receive people affected by severe malnutrition, malaria and violence occurring elsewhere in South Sudan”, he said.

    Maiwut hospital is the only medical facility in Upper Nile region providing surgical and advanced health care to a population of nearly 80,000.

    ICRC said it currently supports seven medical and primary health care facilities in South Sudan. Since January this year its teams have performed more than 1,600 surgeries.

     

  • Firm launches mobile emergency medical care

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO) under the auspices of Doctors on Call Health Initiative has developed a new innovation, known as Telemedicine, to carter mostly for rural dwellers and address cases of medical emergencies.

    The organisation said it has assembled more than 50 doctors aside hundreds of nurses and other medical personnel as part of the team to respond to any emergency from residents of the FCT.

    The firm’s Principal Consultant and Project Head, Dr. Adeloye Adejobi, said the purpose of the innovation is to bring health care access to rural locations by enabling practitioners evaluate, diagnose and treat patient remotely using the latest telecommunications technology.

    He also revealed that their latest discovery was as a result of more than two year research, which he said has received two awards from both the World Bank and the IMF.

    Adejobi further explained that the new medical technology allows patients to receive expert medical care without having to travel.

    “Rural health care practitioners can use telemedicine products to capture and transmit medical data and images to peers and specialists whenever necessary, allowing for cost-efficient expert consultations and improved patient care.

    “Telemedicine enables practitioners to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients remotely using the latest telecommunications technology. In many situations, telemedicine offers numerous benefits as an alternative to traditional in-person medical care.

    “Many patients find it difficult to travel to clinics, hospitals, or doctors’ offices for any number of reasons. Telemedicine can be a great option for patients with unique challenges or in situations making it difficult to travel to receive traditional care.”

    According to him, the new health care service can be used to monitor discharged patients and track patient recovery and also facilitating communication between doctors and patients.

    He added that “Research shows that the use of telehealth technologies results in many positive outcomes is including fewer hospital re-admissions, more faithful following of prescribed courses of treatment, and faster recovery than that of patients not receiving remote intervention.

    “Telemedicine allows hospitals to create networks to provide each other with support. By easily sharing their expertise outside their own institutions, doctors can offer incredible value to their medical colleagues and those colleagues’ patients.”

  • Minister takes medicare to Plateau rural areas

    Minister takes medicare to Plateau rural areas

    The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe has provided free medical care to the people of Pankshin Local Government Area, Plateau State.

    Ochekpe, at the opening of the exercise at the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, said that her effort to bring medical care to the grassroots was to complement the efforts of the Federal Government in providing health care facilities to the citizenry.

    In a statement in Abuja, the minister said the free medical outreach in the state was dedicated to President Goodluck Jonathan for his efforts towards improving the health care of the people of Nigeria.

    The minister maintained that despite Federal government’s efforts at improving Nigerians access to good quality health care, many people in the rural areas do not have access to good medical care.

    According to her, the rural people are not able to access free medical care due to lack of finance and the inability to go to places to access the medical care.

    “We are bringing the free medical care in order to get close to the grassroots where they are most needed,” she said.

    The free medical outreach is sponsored by the minister in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, Soteria Afrique, Urban Frontiers Mission International, Association of Resident Doctors –Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and Afrique Foundation.

  • ‘Ekiti Deputy Governor got the best medical care’

    ‘Ekiti Deputy Governor got the best medical care’

    The remains of the late Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Funmilayo Olayinka, will be interred on April 26, the state government said yesterday.

    The week-long activities for her state burial will begin on April 22.

    Mrs. Olayinka (52) died at St. Nicholas Hospital in Lagos on Saturday after a long battle with cancer.

    According to a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mr. Tayo Ekundayo, the funeral will be held in Ekiti and Lagos states.

    Also yesterday, the Forum of Deputy Governors in Nigeria thanked the Ekiti State Government for giving the late Mrs. Olayinka the best medical treatment in Nigeria and abroad.

    The representatives of the forum, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulure (Lagos) and Chief Segun Adesegun (Ogun), yesterday visited Governor Kayode Fayemi at the Government House in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    The forum said it was proud of the deceased’s contributions to the success of the Fayemi administration.

    It thanked the late Mrs. Olayinka’s family and the state government for supporting her throughout her illness.

    Mrs. Orelope-Adefulire said: “Your government has been wonderful in taking care of her. She received the best of treatment. She was very courageous and hardworking. She lived a fulfilled life. You and your wife were very supportive to her and we cherish your good working relationship.

    “We are pained as her colleagues and I am particularly pained as a woman. We have comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ that she will continue to rest in peace.”

    Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr.Jonah Otunla; Senators Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central), Olu Adetunmbi (Ekiti North) and Anthony Adeniyi (Ekiti South) and Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, who was represented by a delegation led by the Commissioner for Special Duties, Jallo Ibrahim, also visited Fayemi.

    Amosun described the late Mrs. Olayinka as a daughter of Ogun State, having married an Egba man, Mr. Lanre Olayinka, an architect.

    He said Ogun State shared the pain of her death, adding that nobody expected Mrs. Olayinka to die so soon.

    Urging Fayemi to remain strong, Amosun said: “We should console ourselves that in the 52 years she spent with us, she did well. In the last six to seven years that she found herself in politics, she joined the struggle to reclaim the Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN’s) mandate. After the mandate was retrieved, she served the people diligently. She is our wife and we share in your grief.”

    In the condolence register, Amosun wrote: “Our wife, sister, adieu. You served the good people of Ekiti State selflessly. The ACN family will surely miss your commitment. The nation will miss your charm and laughter. May the good Lord grant you eternal rest and comfort your aged parents, your husband, children and the government and people of Ekiti and Ogun states.”

    Ahmed said: “It was a huge shock because she was full of life and energy, but death is an inevitable end we all have to pass through. It came at a time when we need her most, but I know God will strengthen you (Fayemi) and give you the wherewithal to manage the affairs of the state.

    “We are also pained that she has aged parents. May God give them the strength to bear this loss.”

    In the condolence register, Ahmed wrote: “Our dear sister, you have paid the supreme price. However, you have lived a life worthy of emulation. May God grant you eternal peace.”

    Dankwambo said: “Nigeria has lost a gem, a great personality, whose services are still needed. God knows why he took her home. Death is an inevitable end and while we all mourn her, we know that death is a gain to her.”

    Osun State Deputy Governor Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, in her condolence message, said: “Indeed, the news got to me as a cruel, rude and painful shock. When I visited and prayed with Mrs. Olayinka barely 24 hours before her death, there was nothing to suggest that she would be leaving the earth so soon.”

    The Ekiti State Muslim Community, led by the Grand Imam and President of the League of Imams and Alfas in the state, Alhaji Jamiu Kewulere Bello; the state chapter of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, led by Prince Nathaniel Uzoma; the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), led by Pastor Ola Adejubee and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ado-Ekiti branch, led by Mr. Omodele Adewumi, also visited the governor.