From Emeka Attah, Onitsha
The age long saying that “Charity begins at home” played out recently at Uga community, Aguata Local Government Area, Anambra State when an indigene and Senator representing, Anambra South in the National Assembly, Emmanuel Andy Ubah provided free Medicare to the people of his community.
Uga Resource Centre, venue of the program was a beehive of activities that day as prospective beneficiaries thronged the place as early as 8 am to partake in the project. oUR reporter gathered that the free medical outreach was initially designed by the Anambra State Association Women in America who normally visit the state on medical mission annually.
Also, Uga community was not part of the places they were billed to visit but immediately Senator Uba got wind of the program, he met with the organizers, took charge of the entire bill of what it would cost to bring the team to Uga and the rest became history.
With a 97 medical personnel strength comprising of medical doctors, surgeons and other specialists in various areas of health specialization, nurses , laboratory scientists among others, the team stormed Uga in three 40 -seater buses and truck loads of drugs.
It was straight to business even as the local security provided at the venue found it difficult controlling the large number of people who came to benefit from the program.
The beneficiaries went through the normal process of taking their medical history, recording of vital signs like sugar levels, blood pressure, and temperatures before consultation by the doctors on duty. After consultation, some were referred to laboratory testing before drugs were dispensed while others not requiring further probing were given drugs immediately and they left for their homes with joy.
Some of the beneficiaries spoke to our reporter. Patrick Dinwaka in chat described what was happening in their community as a positive development. He praised Senator Uba for his thoughtfulness in striving to improve the lives of the people of his community. Dinwaka said that the professional touch exhibited by the medical personnel on duty when he was being attended to has contributed in taking away his sickness psychologically by 70 percent.
For Sophina Alagbogu, it was like one of those fairy tales often carried by story tellers when she heard announcement about the free medical project.
“I was skeptical when I walked into this arena but from what I eventually saw, I’ve been proved wrong. This is more like a mobile hospital because we were attended to in such manner like all the basic services you see in a standard hospital but the amazing thing in this case was that nobody asked for even one kobo payment. God bless the Senator” she said.
One of the facilitators from America, Dr. Clara Ugba, the National Project Director of the association in a chat acknowledged that it was Senator Uba that made it possible for them to extend their annual Medicare to Uga community. She lamented that many people still grapple with serious terminal sicknesses in Nigeria while many also die out of ignorance, poverty, dearth of manpower and facilities.
She disclosed that in the course of their treatment at Uga, they met three serious cases which were referred to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi for emergency handling. She called on more public spirited individuals to sponsor such medical outreaches and also help in making medical services affordable and within reach for the people. She said their utmost goal is to build a world class cancer centre in Anambra State.
“Can you imagine that we saw a case of one woman whose life has been shattered completely by cancer? She presented an open sore whose sight was horrible. We also saw cases of men with prostate cancer and urine retention while another woman had a baby but her stomach was still protruding at an alarming rate. Our aim is also to sensitise people for them to realize that cancer is even treatable once it is detected early. Our people hide diseases and by the time they blow open, the situation has become irredeemable. For us to come to Uga today is because of the generousity of Uba who gave us money and said that he likes what we are doing and would like his people to benefit from that” she said.
President General of Uga Town Union, Chief James Umezurora while appraising the outreach described the gesture from Senator Uba as a manifestation of the actions of a patriot who has not lost touch with the feelings of his people. He noted that some of the people benefited from free medical glasses and solutions to other eye problems too apart from numerous other ailments suffered by the people which were attended to at no individual cost.
Another community stakeholder, Chief Joel Uchegbu, described the programme as timely when such was needed most going by the number of people that trooped out to benefit. He recalled that the same resource centre where the programme is taking place was also built by Uba .
An Evangelist, Amarachi Umeugochukwu while sharing her own views on the project commended Ubah for the gesture but called on the government to place much emphasis on public hospitals. She lamented that majority of Nigerian citizens more so in Anambra State still rely on private hospitals for their health needs putting them at the mercy of some practitioners driven by private accumulation.
Though Senator Uba was unavoidably absent during the program, one of his aides who was on hand to ensure a hitch free exercise, Onyinye Umejiburu could only voice out few words to the reporter. He noted that it has always been the lifestyle of his principal to make life meaningful to others without making noise about it. Onyinye disclosed that light refreshment was also provided for the more than 500 people that benefited from the free medical outreach while the atmosphere was made very conducive for them so that they don’t need pass through additional stress while accessing a free programme.
The medical personnel were later treated to a dinner party after working all day.
