Christy Anyanwu
A team of resident doctors in Lagos State, BOSKOH, in collaboration with PROFOH, a foreign medical team, recently kicked off a free surgery medical operation in different primary health centres in the state, as part of its effort to provide free medical care to indigent Lagos residents.
About 4,500 residents have already benefitted from the surgery operation which include, hernia tumors, fibroids, lumps among others.
Speaking at the flag off of the programme at the General Hospital, Shomolu, APC Lagos state governorship candidate, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu described the exercise as a unique one that would enable people who have been managing their ailments for many years at home to get free medical attention.
Sanwo-Olu, who is also part of the organisers, said: “We discovered that there are people who require surgical medical operation; so we decided to get health personnel on ground. It is service to humanity, beyond politics.”
Chairman Shomolu Local Government Area. Hon. Abdul Ameen Salaudeen, called on Lagosians to live in a healthy environment, eat healthy food, as health is wealth.
Also speaking, the wife of Sanwo-Olu, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, assured those with medical surgery challenges that their cases would be attended to.
APC deputy governorship candidate, Lagos State, Dr. Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, lauded the medical mission, saying they have restored life back to the sick.
Driving his point home, he said: “A woman came to me in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State and asked me to thank the BOSKOH medical team for taking care of her 20 years ailment.”
Head of PFOFOH, Gbimieotor Daniel Kama, affirmed that the team has been carrying out free medical treatment over the years and added that they had had thousands of surgical procedures in Nigeria and outside the country over the years.
“The surgical operations we have carried out include hernia, tumors, different kinds of surgeries, fibroids among others. We’ve been taking in as many people as possible until the medical team is tired and could not take in people any longer. Sometimes we do up to 20 surgeries in a day. You never know until you get inside the theater; there may be a lot of complications you’ll find there,” Kama affirmed.
Cliff Jarrell Director, the head of PROFOH in Nigeria, observed that there were long list of people with different kinds of surgical operations, such as cancers, malignant and non-malignant types, tumors, orthopedic cases and classes of plastic surgeries and that the team, with the aid of their foreign counterpart have been able to attend to such medical challenges..
Nike Osa, head of the medical team, said they decided to engage in such humanitarian service so as to contribute their own quota in reducing the number of surgeries as much as possible.
According to her, designated areas for surgeries include: Onikan General Hospital, pediatric cases in Lagos General Hospital.
In her words: “The campaign is dynamic and it is an opportunity to reach out to the grassroots, to people that cannot afford the medical expense of the surgical operation.