David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital (DUFUTH), Uburu, Ebonyi State, is targeting at least 8,000 children, elderly persons, and pregnant women in its free medical outreach in four primary health centres in the state.
The hospital’s chief medical director, Prof. Uzoma Maryrose Agwu, said the outreach would be used to examine high blood pressure, typhoid and malaria, and blood sugar levels, amongst other conditions.
Agwu described the outreach as lifesaving, stressing that they would reduce the incidence of deaths due to treatable diseases in their communities.
“The outreach was motivated by the hospital’s desire to bring quality medical care to the doorstep of every Ebonyi resident. We have recorded above our initial projection of 8,000 patients in the outreaches. We are happy with the turnout of residents in all the outposts so far visited.
“We are doing this because we are interested in the health of every Ebonyi resident, and indeed every Nigerian. We desire to have presence in every part of this country in support of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President which is quality healthcare.
“We have seen that we have quite a number of our people that are not able to afford health care, and they are dying from diseases that are preventable, diseases that if caught early could have been cured.”
She said that the hospital recently acquired four rural primary healthcare centres across the state with the approval of the state government as part of its medical expansion programme.
“The four healthcare centres have been taken over to serve as DUFUTH’s medical outposts and complementary training centres for medical students.”
She applauded the turnout at the Community Comprehensive Healthcare Centre in Ngbo, Ohaukwu local government area of the state, adding that they are collaborating with TEE MAN TEE Trends Limited and the Joyce John Cancer Foundation.
She said that other acquired primary healthcare centres include Umuka-Okposi, Ugwulangwu in Ohaozara, and Nwofe in Izzi, a local government area of the state.
Prof Agwu explained that outreach comprises investigating diseases like cancer, hypertension, malaria, tuberculosis, and others that, if discovered early and treated, could be cured.
“So, the motivation is to reduce the number of complicated cases coming to the tertiary health institutions because once they come there, they can’t afford to pay.
It is part of our community service to the people.”
The chief medical director commended Governor Nwifuru for his numerous supports and interventions in the health sector of the state adding that the governor approved the ceding of the healthcare facilities to DUFUTH.
