…Records 133 Surgeries in 4 Days
The Free Medical Mission of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, currently taking place at the Cottage Hospital Otuasega in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has been extended by one week, with 133 surgeries successfully performed.
Mr. Pius Ughakpoteni, NDDC’s Director, Corporate Affairs said in a press release on 17 May, 2024 that while announcing the extension during the flag-off of the Free Medical Mission, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, said that the huge turn-out of patients at the hospital necessitated the extension of the free healthcare outreach, which the Commission organised in partnership with the Cecy Health Consult.
He said that the Free Health Mission was going on simultaneously at the Auchi General Hospital in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, where competent medical personnel were equally attending to thousands of patients from rural communities.
Ogbuku stated: “This programme, which provides healthcare services to medically underserved rural communities in the region, is one of several health programmes of the Commission, targeted at changing the health situation of our people in the region. It is in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, No. 3 which aspires to achieve universal health coverage and ensure health and well-being for all.”
According to him, many hospitals in the rural communities were poorly equipped and understaffed. “We have, therefore, decided to partner with state governments and 7development agencies to equip our hospitals and provide the necessary manpower to curb rural-urban migration and the associated risks,” he said.
He promised that NDDC would soon commence the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Otuasega Cottage Hospital built by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, with modern facilities.
Ogbuku said that the NDDC would consider making the health mission a quarterly event, rather than an annual one, to better cater to the healthcare needs of underserved communities.
In his remarks, the NDDC Director, Education, Health and Social Services, Dr. George Uzonwanne, said that over two million Niger Deltans, who had no access to modern health facilities, had benefitted from the medical missions over the years.
He extoled the Board and Management of the NDDC for providing a platform through which the healthcare needs of the people were being addressed.
He declared: “Good health remains the core of human development. The NDDC, as an interventionist agency, has promoted good health as being integral to the success of her mandate in facilitating the sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.
Uzonwanne remarked that the first phase of the free medical mission, which had already been conducted in Akwa Ibom, Imo, Delta and Edo states, would get to Igbokoda in Ondo State, Ogu in Rivers State, Owaza in Abia State and Akamkpa in Cross River State.
The Medical Director of Cecy Health Consult, Dr Yomi Jaye, said that since the beginning of the medical outreach at Otuasega on May 12, over 3,000 patients had been attended to and a total of 133 surgeries, including caesarian procedures, extraction of cataract, had been successfully carried out.
He said that 200 mosquito nets and 50 delivery kits were distributed to pregnant women, along with over 500 hygiene kits that were provided to boys in commemoration of the ‘World International Day of the Boy Child.
The Chief Medical Director of Bayelsa State, Dr Doubra Doukumo, commended the NDDC for bringing the free medical programme to Otuasega, describing the massive turn-out of people seeking medical care as unprecedented. “NDDC truly deserves plaudits from our people,” he said.
