As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Diabetes Day on Monday, the National Association of Seadogs( NAS) has provided free medical services including testing, screening and drugs to hundreds of locals in the Kamazoo community of Kaduna State.

The free medical service is part of the association’s Corporate Social Responsibility to its immediate environment.

Speaking at the occasion, Ambassador Obinna Okpara, the Capoon of Kaduna Chapter of NAS also known as Pyrates Confraternity, said the association always reaches out to the poor in the society in itsi humanitarian services.

He further said that NAS always identifies with the downtrodden and those who don’t have the financial strength to check their health status.

According to him, NAS is not political and does not discriminate, adding that “it is a great advocate in helping those in academics and those who cannot pursue their legal cases.”

He said, “We try to act rather than just talking. We don’t support the ills of the community in the nation. We try to set the pace. We try as much to do the right thing in our work place, in our homes and in the community we find ourselves. Particularly in Kaduna State and its environs because the Kaduna State Chapter covers Northwest and Northeast of the association.”

The NAS Chapter President explained that the association’s mission at the Kamazoo community in Kaduna was to join the rest of the world to commemorate World Diabetes Day.

He said, “Community awareness, free tests would be conducted in Kamazoo. We actually hope to use this medium to showcase one of our ideals of humanitarian services. Like I said, we normally reach out to the downtrodden people that do not have the financial capability to get the basic needs which they are supposed to be aware of.

“Having identified this with the World Diabetes Day, it’s a great opportunity to give service to the community because diabetics is one of the killing illnesses so far which many communities have neglected,” he said.

Ambassador Okpara said from the exercise, members of the community would be aware and well informed about the illness; because they came with experts , physicians and nurses.

“We would carry out the test and each and everyone of them here would know his or her BP status and the sugar level. And haven gotten professional advice from the medical team; they would begin to take care. If it is what they can control by their lifestyle, we would educate them more, they would all get this here,” he said.

Speaking on other plans the Association had for the community, Dr. Okpara explained that one of the things they identified and were working towards, was to enable the Kamazoo community to have a Primary Health Care facility, as the nearest to them was about a distance of 5 km.

He said they hoped to erect a little structure and hand it over to the State Ministry of Health for the benefit of the community.

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He disclosed that next month the association would mark its 70th anniversary and therefore, they have identified a school for disabled children in Kawo Kaduna where they would distribute materials and get to know what other things they would do for the school.

“We are also looking at doing one in Katsina, one in Kano So as it evolves, we can see how we can be able to cover the region this chapter controls,” he said

He however observed that the only challenge facing them in the sub zone was that of insecurity which seriously affects mobility, as they intend to reach both Muslims and Christians communities in the Northern and Southern parts of their area of coverage, with materials and other humanitarian needs.

A public health physician with the Kaduna State Ministry of Health who coordinated the medical team, Dr.Emmanuel Joseph, was full of appreciation to Seadogs for reaching out to the Kamazoo community.

He, however noted that there was a high prevalence of hypertension in the community and therefore, drew the attention of the association and its leader, Ambassador Okpara, who graciously agreed to provide anti hypertensive drugs for those who were noticed with the ailment.

“We also like to thank our host; the First ECWA Church, who not only provided the venue but also the logistics to carry out this worthy humanitarian activity,” he said.

Rev.Dr Hassan Dankaura of First ECWA Church Kamazoo described the humanitarian gesture of the association as unprecedented, saying they were so thankful to have them in the community.

He said the community had lots of people with lots of problems of which the Seadogs had taken the diabetics challenge, calling on other associations to emulate them by coming to render other humanitarian services so that the society can be a better place with people living healthy and productive lives.

The Reverend observed that apart from the medical aspect, the community has a serious challenge of lack of potable water.

He prayed they could have other associations that would drill boreholes and repair rounds in the area so that they could have easy mobility.

“As you can see the Water Board is no longer supplying water to this area, just a few people have boreholes. So most people have to move from house to house, particularly in the month of January through April, you see a long queue of people at the few boreholes to get drinking water.So if we have other humanitarian organisations to look into that, it would really help the community,” he said.

The Chief of the Kamazoo, Dakachi Unguwan Madaki community, Sunday Auta Yari , said the entire community was extremely grateful for the gesture.

He said, “In Kaduna State we have over 1000 associations doing a lot of things in the country. But this is the association that came to us with materials and health assistance that benefited us immensely. We hope others too will come. Our wells have dried up.We lack portable water. We are appealing to the government and other associations to help by providing sources of water in our community.”

A local who benefited from the medical outreach, Hosea Daniel said it was a great thing that happened to the community because many of them never knew the kind of illness they had before the coming of the Seadogs.

Similarly, Mrs.Sheba Ibrahim said they were elated and happy with the humanitarian intervention of the Seadogs, as they were tested, counseled and given free drugs to treat the ailment.

“We have never experienced anything like this in Kamazoo; this is the first time. We are happy,” she said.

According to Amb.Okpara, from the scoping mission conducted, diabetes is one of the prevalent illnesses in the local community.

“Aurora Flotilla Deck wants to use this medium to educate the people and also advocate for the government to further equip the primary health care centers. It was also discovered that most people do not understand the sickness.”

“Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a disease of hormonal insufficiency (insulin) leading to the body’s inability to properly manage blood sugar/glucose, there are 3 broad types: Type 1 (insulin-dependent), Type 2 (insulin-resistant), and Gestational Diabetes (pregnancy-induced). Lifestyle modifications play an important role in both the prevention and management of DM.

“Drugs and other interventions are options of last resort, hence the need for both education and access to care. Not all symptoms are easily identified and the need for at least twice a year testing is of great importance, especially for those who have a risk factor or more for DM (age above 45, sex, lifestyle, etc.).

“DM is also a cause of hypertension, kidney disease, etc. With education and access to care (this program aims to do both), we will be able to control this emerging monster in our society,” he said.