Over 20,000 Lagosians benefit from Bishop Okonkwo’s free medical care

As thousands of Lagosians defied the early downpour last Saturday to benefit from the free medical test and treatment organized as part of activities to mark the 66th birthday of the Resident Pastor, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), the celebrant and wife of the Presiding Bishop of the Church, Bishop (Dr.) Peace Okonkwo said that nothing gives her joy than to put smiles on people’s faces.

Addressing journalists at the TREM headquarters in Gbagada, Lagos, where over 17,000 people were attended to by various medical personnel, under the Peace Campaign Initiative, the celebrant said the idea to give to humanity during her birthday celebration came up when she turned 60.

She explained that “Peace Campaign came out of what I saw when I went for a seminar and they were showing women dying of cervical cancer and I wasn’t happy because I know it is treatable when detected early and I went to God in prayer that how can I be of help. When I turned 60, I said life is nothing if you are not helping others so I thought of being a blessing to women and children.”

According to Bishop Okonkwo, about 10,000 women, especially those in rural areas have been treated, adding that at the planning stage, the committee connected to a general hospital where those with severe cases are being referred to for treatment while the organization follows up and render financial assistance to patients.

She said a company called Eye Foundation also partners the Peace Campaign Initiative to render free eye treatment to patients with a promise to remove cataract from any patient’s eyes free of charge.

When asked about her discovery on peculiar disease among rural women, the celebrant said it is poverty which prevents women and children from affording two square meals a day thereby exposing them to various forms of disease and sickness stressing that her Foundation has done a lot in areas of empowerment for widows by donating food items, clothing, skill acquisition and funds for establishing small scale businesses.

“Life at 65 has taught me to be a blessing to humanity because I came from a humble background where I learnt that it is not about acquiring wealth but putting smiles on other people’s faces,” she said.

At the end of Saturday, over 16,000 people were offered free medical test while about 9,000 were tested on Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening, Prostate Cancer Screenings, BMI, Blood Sugar, Blood Pressure Check, Deworming for Children, Hepatitis B and many more health related issues .

Bishop Okonkwo’s concern for women and the ease of death even over treatable diseases, gave birth to the Peace Campaign which was flagged off on the June 9, 2012. PEACE, an acronym for Providing Early Attention for Cancer Everywhere, runs free medical checkup for men, women and children with specific emphasis on Cervical and Breast cancer screening for women and deworming for children.

Today over 8,000 women have been screened while over 15,000 people have enjoyed free medical checkup with provision of over the counter drugs prescribed by the doctors on the team. The PEACE team is made up of qualified medical personal including doctors, nurses and pharmacists. The June 3rd edition will include Prostate screening for men for the 1st time.

All of the humanitarian services come under the umbrella of the Women of Global Impact with the target to be a source of succor, inspiration, and empowerment for women at all levels of the society and helping national development through empathy, trust, motivation and non-discriminatory support initiatives.