The Presidential Committee on North-East Initiatives (PCNI) says it has so far conducted surgeries on 38 out of the 2,000 patients it treated in Taraba, under the one week free medical outreach scheme.
Dr Gabriel Toma, Head of Surgeons, who disclosed this to journalists in Takum, said the surgeries include appendectomy, hernia, Myomectomy, caesarean section among others.
He said the scheme, which began on Tuesday, might not reach the 170 target surgeries, given the limitation of personnel and the curfew imposed on the area.
Toma, however, assured that the team would try its best to conduct qualitative surgeries within the time available.
Also speaking, PCNI’s Head of Humanitarian, Rehabilitation and Resettlement, Dr Sidi Mohammed, said the free medical outreach initiative was aimed at reaching out to the less privileged in the society.
He said the scheme focused especially on those who fled insurgency in the North-East.
“At the height of the insurgency, most people, including health workers were displaced and could not afford to pay medical bills.
‘’ So the programme is designed to reach out to such categories of people.
“We have another medical programme specifically for those in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, but only 10 per cent of the displaced people are in the camps.
”So that is why we are here in General Hospital, Takum to reach out to as a many as possible.
“During our one week outreach programme here, we will be treating people of various ailments and conducting minor and major surgeries and attending to other health needs of the people,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the scheme is in collaboration with Pro-Health International and the West African Association of Surgeons.
He said PCNI had conducted free medical outreach in Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba under the first phase of the scheme.
Mohammed also said the second phase of the programme would commence on April 8, to last for two weeks, adding that it meant to enhance people’s greater accessibility to health.
Mrs Juliet Hananiya, Programme, Manager, Free Health Care, Pro-Health International, said the partnership which began in 2017 had helped a lot of patients suffering from hypertension, ulcer, diabetes, malaria, among others.
One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Mr Richard Sak, who said he battled hernia for six years, commended the Federal Government and its partners for the assistance.(NAN)
