The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) has tasked the government and elected representatives on the provision of quality healthcare delivery to the people.
The NAS Capoon, Mr Abiola Owoaje, stated this during the flag-off of the NAS free Medical Mission at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Primary Health Centre (PHC), Abule Ado, Amuwo-Odofin local government area of Lagos State.
He stated that the exercise was carried out in recognition of the fact that many people cannot access government-owned health facilities due to the poverty level.
According to him the aim of the NAS free medical mission was to help the government bridge the gap in provision of quality healthcare.
“What we do is to provide free medical care services to communities and we allow this to coincide with our Annual General Meetings or quarterly meetings which take place in different parts of Nigeria. We do this in recognition that a lot of people have fallen out of the catchment nets in terms of provision of basic healthcare facilities.
“We recognise the fact that much as the government would want to do, it is not possible for them to carry out all these intervention services to the communities. So, we would continue to do this and improve on the services that we bring to the people.
“What we have also done is that in the course of providing these services, we have data on the kind of services that we provide and the kind of issues they are confronted with on the field. It builds up an advocacy when we speak with the government to challenge why they are not providing these services. We also give suggestions on the best way forward,” Owoaje stated.
He called on the government, especially elected representatives, to pay more attention to delivery of adequate medical care to the people.
“We provide our services in rural areas where it is a challenge for the government to be consistent in the service that they provide. Very often you find that people who are in the urban areas get healthcare services more than those in the rural areas. So, we keep advocating that the government should not take their eyes off the rural communities.
Recently, we were in a community in Rivers State where the community leaders told us that their people would have to travel for long distances on the boat to the nearest PHC for medical attention. These are the things that we bring to the attention of the government from time to time,” he added.
The beneficiaries, speaking through two community leaders, Chiefs Lawal Ahmadu Shehu and Jimoh Raheem in separate interviews commended NAS for the gesture, noting that the medical intervention was timely as many people could not afford funds to buy drugs.
The duo stated that the medical mission has helped the community and the management of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Primary Health Centre (PHC) to identify patients with diabetes and high blood pressure for follow-up treatments.
Medical services carried out included treatment of malaria, high blood pressure, deworming of children, diabetes, paediatrics, Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test and optometry.
