George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
Not less than 150 natives of Orogwe community and others from adjoining towns in Owerri-West Local Government Area of Imo State yesterday benefitted from a free medicare carried out by Bethesida Specialist Hospital owned by one of the illustrious sons of the community, Dr Jojo Onwukwe.
As early as 8:00 a.m, hundreds of persons, especially women, children and the elderly, were already seated at the Bethesida Specialist Hospital venue of the free medicare, waiting to be attended to.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, who spoke to Sunday Sun, disclosed that the free medicare outreach was part of the social services of the hospital designed to bring specialist treatment and professional medical advice to the grassroots.
Dr Onwukwe also said that one of the major reasons for the free medicare outreach was to enable the people know their health status and to also get treated free of charge.
His words: “We decided to carry out this free medicare as part of our social services, to bring specialist treatment and to also offer professional advice to the people of the community as regards their health status.
“The most prevalent cases here is hypertensive outside malaria, which is a common ailment. Now, most of them don’t even know that they are hypertensive and about 30 per cent of them, especially the women exhibited symptoms of diabetes, which they are not even aware of. So, we have given them the appropriate drugs and professional medical advice to ensure that it doesn’t result into other health complications.”
Dr Onwukwe, a specialist neuropsychiatric surgeon and former Medical Director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu advised that it is imperative for people to always check their health status to avoid sudden death, which may be a consequence of hypertension.
Some of the beneficiaries of the free medicare lauded Dr Onwukwe for his generosity and by using his personal resources to provide free medicare for members of the community.
Mrs Josephine Oguomah who had come to have a check up thanked Dr Onwukwe for making it possible for most indigent members of the community to access free medicare.