A corps member serving with Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Dr Felix Nwarienne, has commenced free eye treatment for 200 patients across his host community.
Nwarienne, a 2017 Batch ‘B’ Stream l corps member, who hails from Anambra, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday at the commencement of the screening of patients that the gesture was part of his Community Development Service (CDS).
According to him, 20 patients will benefit from free eye surgery at the hospital’s eye clinic in Kano Municipal Local Government Area of the state.
The corps member also said that 100 persons would be given free eye glasses, while others would be given free drugs after undergoing series of eye tests during the one week exercise.
He added that “the aim of this free treatment and surgery is to make sure that the people in the community where I am serving benefit from my one-year stay in the area as part of my CDS.
“Since I commenced my service with this hospital, I noticed that despite the cheap health care services in Kano, there are many people who cannot afford to visit the clinic when they are sick.
“Due to the lack of financial support, many of them who could have been cured, would remain blind; I therefore feel the need to find ways to assist such people.”
Nwarienne commended the management of the hospital and the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria for their support to him to achieve his goal.
The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Coordinator in Kano, Alhaji Ladan Baba, represented by an Assistant Director, Mr Thomas Idaduko, commended the corps member for such initiative.
According to him, such gesture will make great impact in the lives of the beneficiaries which he says is worth emulating by other corps members posted to various communities in the state.
“Such corps members deserve commendation for touching the lives of other people,” Baba said.
Similarly, a Consultant Ophthamologist with the hospital’s eye clinic, Dr Usman Mijinyawa, described the corps member as hard working and passionate professional.
He said “since he commence his one year service with us, there has been a marked increase in the number of patients we attend to daily; he is very good and committed to his work.”
Mijinyawa explained that Nwarienne, who successfully secured free eye surgeries worth N15,000 each for 20 patients, was the first corps member to execute such a project since the commencement of the eye clinic service in the hospital.
He urged others to emulate him. (NAN)
