Over ten thousand persons living with different ailments in the rural areas in Enugu State (Nigeria) have received free medical treatment sponsored by Hon Mrs Juliet Egbo, the All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives Candidate for the Enugu North and South Federal Constituency.
The two-day medical outreach which held simultaneously in some hard-to-reach rural communities in Enugu North and South Federal Constituency is an annual programme of Mrs Egbo that started since 2009.
Beneficiaries of the free medical outreach programme include widows, youths, children and the elderly.
The free medical services provided to them include blood pressure check, eye test, sugar level test, malaria test, among others
According to Mrs Egbo, she annually engage different healthcare professionals, consultants and specialists in different areas in medicine; who examined the patients, while pharmacists gave them prescribed drugs free of cost.
She further explained that patients who have minor eye problem were treated and given eye glasses, while those with major cases that require surgery were referred to hospitals where they could be taken care of.
She regretted that many people have died because they could not afford to pay for their medical treatment, explaining that the free medical outreach was aimed at giving the less privileged access to quality medical care, while urging the beneficiaries to always take their health issues seriously by always going for regular medical check-up and treatments.
“This is not the first time we are doing this. We are now in the seventh year. It is an annual programme to help reduce cases of sudden death among the people,” she said.
She said that the medical team carry out follow-ups and referrals in complicated cases.
Mrs Egbo said the free medical outreach would be extended to many rural communities.
Mrs Egbo who is the front runner for the Enugu North and South Federal Constituency promised that when elected she will continue, in a more larger scale, to carry out free medical surgical outreach in her Constituency annually.
As a National Assembly member, she promised to launch the largest health response commitment to address health challenges of old people and youth with terminal deseases.
“I will sponsor bills for a number of healthcare reforms to extend financial risk protection and service coverage for poor and vulnerable groups. These reforms will include the provision of free maternity services, fee primary healthcare and exempting of the poor rural people from national health insurance subsidy programme.
Mrs Egbo said she will use her foreign wealth of experience to attract fund, support and collaboration between civil society, public and private sectors to end health inequality and mainly serve rural and hard-to-reach communities.
In separate interviews, two beneficiaries who were diagnosed and treated thanked Mrs Egbo for the gesture.