The Rotary Club of Lagos, District 9110, has donated over 100 mobility aids to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre respectively, in efforts to reduce the financial burden of patients using the health facilities.
The mobility aids were donated by the Rotary Club of Lagos in conjunction with Crutches4Africa, with the aim of providing mobility assistance to patients, people living with disabilities and the elderly in the society.
Rotary International is one of the foremost service organisations founded in 1905. In Nigeria, the first Rotary Club and the Rotary Club of Lagos was chartered in 1960.
Rotary Club has identified seven key strategic areas to work on, which are maternal and child care; health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); supporting the environment; promoting global peace; resolving conflicts and supporting global communities through financial empowerment and disease prevention.
The director of Rotary Foundation, Rotarian U.K. Eke said the donation of the mobility aids was to complement the efforts of LUTH and NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre in improving the health status of Nigerians.
Speaking on the mobility aids, Eke, who is also the head of the Mobility Aids Committee, said Rotary Club identified areas of needs of LUTH and NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre, hence, the essence of the donation.
“We know the hospital is doing very well and I must commend the chief medical director and his team, but there is so much more the hospital can do. I also recall that three wheelchairs were included in the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre budget for 2023. That money for the wheelchairs can fund the treatment of some cancer patients,” he stated.
The director called on other organisations to step in. “I am using this opportunity to encourage other organisations and institutions to do likewise,” he appealed.
The president, Rotary Club of Lagos, Rotarian Joseph Akhigbe, said Rotary Club of Lagos, through the mobility aids’ donation, is complementing the efforts of the federal government and NSIA in improving the health sector in Nigeria.
“We know LUTH is a federal government funded hospital, but subvention cannot really be enough. So, whatever, organisations like ours can do is a welcome development. We are setting this example for others to follow,” he stated.
Narrating how Rotary Club of Lagos got the mobility aids, Akhigbe said, the idea was conceived when he attended the Rotary Convention in Houston, United States, in June 2022, adding that, “I didn’t go there for the sake of the convention; I tried to make friends that will benefit Nigerians and Africans at large.
