Family Health Days: 150,000 Nigerians benefit from Rotary free healthcare
No fewer than 150,000 Nigerians benefited from the free health services organized by Rotarians for Family Health and AIDS Prevention (RFHA) to mark the 2016 Rotary Family Health Days (RFHD).
The programme commenced on Thursday, September 29 and ended on Saturday, October 1, 2016.
The free health services include HIV testing and counseling, eye cataract test and treatment, family counseling, condom promotion and distribution, polio immunization, malaria screening and treatment, tuberculosis screening, cervical and breath cancer screening, hepatitis screening.
Others include Diabetes and glucose level towels, distribution of sanitary towels, deforming for all children, vitamin A supplements distribution, mosquito net distribution, prostate cancer screening and blood pressure check.
Speaking at the launch programme last Wednesday, Director of the Family Days, West Africa Program, Rotarian Olugbemiga Olowu said the mission of the programme is to improve the lives of children and families who lack access to preventive health care and education by mobilising Rotarians and partners organizations globally.
“The RFHA serves the underprivileged families everywhere with particular focus on children and women who are the most vulnerable in the society. By focusing on the child, which is the centre of the family, we serve the community as a whole.”
He said, the agenda is to develop a strong public/private partnership programme in response to the needs of people.
“This is in view of Africa’s high mortality rate from either infectious diseases or non-communicable diseases. Though the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that progress has been made in reducing child mortality, saying that the rates have plummeted to less than half of what they were in 1990, it was noted that progress made so far is not enough to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of a two-thirds reduction over the past 15 years.”
The RFHD programme is holding concurrently in Nigeria, Ghana, Southern Africa and Uganda.
The RFHD are a comprehensive, holistic offering of free healthcare for parents, children, grandparents, friends and all family members in over 160 sites in 21 states of Nigeria.
“This year, about 1900 Rotarians and Rotaractors will reach around 150,000 people. The programme has touched over 1, 200, 000 people in Africa and India since 2012 and over 400,000 in Nigeria.”
Adding, he said, “it is the vision of Rotarians for Family Health and AIDS Prevention, Rotary leaders and our partners to continue to expand this health event each year across Nigeria, especially to states not currently covered because of security reasons.”
Appreciating Rotary for their humanitarian services, the Corporate Communications Manager of the Nigerian Bottling Company Ltd, Mr Akomen Omijeh said, “this is an opportunity to reach communities and establish platform for sustainability in the communities where we work.”
done in partnership with District 9110, District 9140, Federal and States Ministries of Health, Centrex for Disease Control (CDC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Society for Family Health (SFH), AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), Gilead Sciences and Coca-Cola Nigeria.
