On Saturday, 28th December 2024, NAS Medical Mission, through one of its decks, the Hybrid Deck of the Pyrates Confraternity, in collaboration with World Mama Mission (Canada), conducted a one-day free medical outreach at Ugiekha, South Ibie, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
This program responded to the significant healthcare challenges rural communities face due to inadequate facilities and the limited number of healthcare personnel. The project’s primary objective was to reduce the high mortality rate among members of the Ugiekha community and environs through the provision of high-quality healthcare services to indigent individuals in the community, including widows, orphans, the elderly, and the physically challenged. The program also aimed to eliminate ignorance and superstition by increasing beneficiaries’ knowledge of health problems.
Issuing forth from the scoping mission undertaken by members of Hybrid Deck before the free medical project, the following rationales were established as the fulcrum to be addressed by the program:
– Expensive healthcare
– Emergency nature of illnesses/injuries
– Use of original medication
– Treatment by qualified healthcare professionals
– Standardized treatment
– Upholding of patients’ rights
– Comprehensive health screening
– Health education and awareness
Volunteer healthcare personnel that took part in the medical mission included 3 medical officers, 1 dental surgeon, 1 optometrist, 3 medical laboratory scientists, 1 dental nurse, and 5 nurses.
FLAG OFF
On the day of the mission, the flag-off ceremony was conducted by the Capoon of Hybrid Deck as he welcomed the community members and healthcare volunteers in attendance. The community elders expressed their heartfelt appreciation to the National Association of Seadogs (NAS Medical Mission) and World Mama Mission (Canada) and offered prayers for the two organizations.
A statistical analysis of the mission properly compartmentalized the day’s activities into the following categories:
* Outpatients
– Over 550 patients were attended to.
– Various ailments were treated, including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, malaria, etc.
* Dental Unit
– 12 extractions were carried out and post-extraction medication was administered.
– Over 40 scaling and polishing procedures were performed.
* Ophthalmic/Eye Unit
– Over 180 patients were attended to.
– 180 reading glasses were dispensed.
– 145 ophthalmic medications were dispensed.
* Medical Laboratory Unit
– Various laboratory tests, including malaria parasite tests, blood sugar tests, and hepatitis B and C screenings, were carried out on over 250 beneficiaries.
A demographic breakdown of Ugiekha community members who benefited from the medical outreach showed that there were
280 males aged 18 and above and 210 female beneficiaries aged 18 and above. Male children aged 0 to 17 years accounted for 35 patients, while females in the same age bracket were 25 in number.
CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Most of the challenges encountered in the planning and eventual execution of this medical outreach revolved around limited funds, the remoteness of Ugiekha’s location in the South Ibie axis, and the overwhelming population of community residents that enthusiastically turned out to be attended to. Both organizers of this mission have strongly recommended that the community’s health facility would benefit from support in the areas of medication supply and funds for infrastructural enhancement. Another recommendation is that future outreaches should consider cataract surgeries, given the sheer number of diagnosed cases in the just-concluded program.