President Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation (OOF) and Starkey Hearing Foundation (SHF), recently targeted 1000 Abians and beyond for their free treatment and distribution of hearing aids to the impaired/handicapped in Abia State.
This however was in alliance with the state government through its Ministry of Health.
Speaking while flagging off the occasion, the state Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, said the two foundations came to the state to assist people with hearing aids and treatment, stating that it is a stop-gap for Abians with hearing problems.
Ikpeazu, who was represented by his Principal Secretary, Engr. Emma Nwabuko, disclosed that “there are some commitments that came from the state government”, stating that his administration saw the need that the people of the state benefit of the exercise, hence his approval for the exercise.
He expressed happiness that after the treatment, people will start hearing well again especially when one considers the cost of hearing aids which will be given free, stating that the group will be back again in the state by October for the second phase.
The Governor said the team will be setting up an office in the state like a “help line” for servicing and getting feedback from the people and describe the exercise as a welcome development, while his administration would want such an exercise to be encouraged.
He advised that the exercise was an opportunity for people to use in the state, stating that enough publicity will be made for this and shifted to another city.
Explaining their motive behind the exercise, Dr. Olalikan Makinde, the Head, Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, said they were in the state on the instruction of the former President, who has chosen the state for the exercise which is one of the five major areas of interest and programmes the foundation does under health.
He said the foundation is also into health, youth empowerment as well as agriculture, stating that the foundation feels that treating people with hearing issues are not common, hence the decision to domesticate it in the country in partnership with the Starkey Hearing Foundation, SHF.
Makinde said OOF is now committed to giving hearing aids to Nigerians, stating that in the South East, the foundation chose Abia State, while expecting the state government to give them the necessary support to execute the exercise in the state.
If any challenge in the course of the exercise in the state arise, Dr. Makinde said they are few and will be discussed with the state governor.
According to him, the foundation has the intention of treating up to 1000 people free, even with the treatments or hearing aids.
Each hearing aid, he said, costs up to N5, 000.00 and N1 million for each and every of the targeted 1000 people.
The Permanent Secretary, Abia State Ministry of Health, Nkwachukwu Agomuoh, described the exercise as a “glorious one” attracted by the state governor as a welcome relief to Abians, disclosing that the state was doing the hosting for the entire South East and even the South-South.
According to the Permanent Secretary, there is the willingness on the part of the state governor to sustain the exercise so that after October when people would have received their hearing aids, the state government would continue to look after those with real hearing problems in the state.
Meanwhile, on middle of the second day of the exercise, more than 650 people had been treated.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on Health Matters, Dr. Felix Chinwendu Joe (Ezumezu), disclosed that ear problem is in the increase in the country, hence the need to arrest the situation in time.
He confirmed that the exercise was a free one by the state government in partnership with OOF and SHF to bring succour to the infected, pointing out that the state government is only giving the foundation the enablement and the favourable environment to operate.
“The pity and interest of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to fulfill his campaign promises, especially on the on the area of healthcare”, he said, resulted to the exercise, pointing out that the state government would sustain the programme as some health officers in the state have been sent to Ogun State for training to sustain the programme.
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