As part of its cooperate social responsibilities, the International College of Surgeons (ICS) carried out over 150 free surgeries in three hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).
ICS zonal coordinator, FCT branch, Prof Titus Ibekwe, stated this at the ICS Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference, themed: „Global COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Safe Surgical Services, Training and Research’’. in Abuja.
He said the surgeries which included obstetrics and gynecology, Urological, Endoscopic/laser, Ear, Nose and Throat, Eye among others were carried out in Maitama, Asokoro and Nyanya General Hospitals.
Describing ICS as a humanitarian organisation, Ibekwe said members of the college donated their talents freely to help mankind, especially the less privilege in the society, adding that the exercise was to bring health to the door steps of the poor masses who could not afford healthcare services due to economic hardship.
„We started this programme with medical outreach and we are able to successfully execute over 150 surgeries. We adopted a model whereby beneficiaries were drawn from hinterlands for security reasons and brought to the city centre.
„The exercise is a way of supporting the government, the populace especially the less privilege who cannot afford any of these services because a good number of this surgeries can only be accessed outside the country by the rich,’’ he said.
The chairman pledged the continuous commitment of the college to uplift the country‘s health sector through the reduction in the disease burden.
On the conference theme, ICS president,
Dr Maurice Ezeoke, said Nigerian section described the theme as apt in view of the disruption to surgical services experienced globally in the past few years.
He said the organisation’s mission was to foster world-wide surgical excellence through education, training, fellowship and humanitarian effects.
“ICS is out to give their talent and everything they have to salvage the society hence we collaborate with the FCT minister to give succor to the very poor in the society,“ he said.
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