By Doris Obinna
Scores of people in Mafoluku community, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area, Lagos State have received free medical services from a non-governmental organization (NGO), Isaiah Olufemi Elugbaju Foundation (IOE).
The lucky residents got free general health check-ups, blood pressure, sugar level testing, health education, and essential medications.
The medical outreach, held at Mafoluku Primary Health Centre, according to the organisers, was aimed at addressing the healthcare needs of people in the area.
Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Tobi Elugbaju, said the outreach was the foundation’s first medical mission, established in honour the late Isaiah Olufemi Elugbaju, who was deeply committed to education, health awareness, and community development during his lifetime.
He said that the inaugural medical mission was “significant to us as it coincides with the 10th memorial anniversary of the late Isaiah Olufemi Elugbaju and we hope to continue with it.”
The CEO said the initiative was aimed at “address critical health needs in the community and promote overall well-being as my late father believed in helping the community. It is an opportunity for us to give back to the community, thereby embodying the compassion that he exemplified. The foundation is dedicated to preserving his legacy by also promoting cancer awareness, and community development.”
Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Primary Health Care, District VI, Dr. Abimbola Mabogunje, while commending the initiative, said it was coming at a difficult time when drugs are expensive, adding that it would alleviate the financial burden of some of the patients, especially those suffering chronic illnesses.
A paediatrician, Dr. Uche Nwachukwu, one of the medical doctors who attended to beneficiaries, said the outreach was timely considering the turn out and the type of illness attended to.
“In the outreach, we recorded high numbers of hypertensive patients. We have counseled them and directed those who need treatment to the health center. We educated them on the need for constant check-up and early treatment of ailments.
One of the organisers, Tola Obambe, noted that the outreach came quite timely at the time when drugs are expensive in Nigeria.
He said that the foundation will extend the outreach to other communities.