From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Osogbo
21,834 residents of Osun State have benefited from the free medical services organized by the state government tagged Imole Free Medical and Surgical Treatment.
Residents of the state had trooped out in large numbers between February and April to benefit from the free medical services organized to mark the 100 days in office of the state Governor, Ademola Adeleke.
The Governor had constituted a 10-member committee of health workers chaired by the Chief Medical Director of UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Professor Peter Babatunde Olaitan.
Addressing a press conference in Osogbo yesterday to mark the end of the free medical outreach, the chairman of the committee, Prof Olaitan said the committee gathered no fewer than 200 health workers from both the secondary and tertiary health institutions to work on the project.
He hinted that the medical team engaged in intensive medical care throughout the period of the exercise, disclosing that ailments of various kinds were treated, even as different surgeries were done.
Besides, Olaitan disclosed that free eye care was given during the exercise, with many patients provided with free eyeglasses, just as eye surgery was done for some patients suffering from eye-related ailments.
He said the medical personnel comprising of medical doctors, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists and other health workers all worked assiduously to ensure the success of the programme.
While the flag-off was held in Iwo on the 15th of February, 2023, he disclosed that the team visited all the nine federal constituencies of the state providing medical care, General and Eye surgical procedures for the people.
According to Olaitan who is also the Chief Medical Director of UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, “a total of 21,834 citizens of the state benefited from the program, while 10,543 benefited from medical, 9,133 benefited in the free eye care and 1,453 people benefited from general surgical care.”
“Of the patients with eye care, 705 of them had eye surgery, while 2,415 were given free eyeglasses, he added.
The chairman of the committee lauded Governor Adeleke for the initiative and the execution of the programme.
Besides, he expressed gratitude to all health workers who participated in the program and all the citizens who put their trust in the professional abilities of the medical experts.