A US-based Rotarian, Ms. Susan Paget, Wednesday, disclosed that the Rotary Club International has carried out over 11 million health care services in 11 countries in Africa.
Also, she said no fewer than 2.6m Africans have benefited from the humanitarian services of the club across the 11 African countries, just as the Rotary Club Abuja Maitama, offered free health care to over 3,500 in Galuwyi village in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Speaking with Journalists at the sideline of the medical outreach organized by the Rotary Club Abuja Maitama in Galuwyi village, Paget said the outreach was aimed to take prevention and health care to the communities that do not have access to health care.
Paget, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rotary Family Health and Aids Prevention (RFHA), which is based in Georgia, US, said: “What Rotary has done today is executed on Rotary Family Health Care Programme, and the programme runs through what is called ‘Rotary Action Group, and I am the CEO. This programme takes free prevention and health care services to communities that do not have access to health care.
“We operate in 11 countries throughout, and as of today, we have an excess of 2.6million beneficiaries with over 11 million health services. That is our programme, and Nigeria is one of our flagship programmes’’.
Also, the National Coordinator of RFHA in Nigeria, Rotn. Bola Oyebade, said the medical outreach was carried in the community to bridge the gap to health service by the residents of the community, adding that the programme, said the outreach was carried in 125 sites in Nigeria to free health care to the less privileged in the society.
Earlier, the President of Rotary Club of Abuja, Maitama, Rotn. Yusuf Alli, had explained that outreach was organised to mark this year’s Rotary Family Health Day, adding that over 3, 500 people in the community were offered free health service.
He said: “Rotary Family Health Day is part of bonding with our adopted community. Every Rotary Club has an adopted community because our policy is ‘Each one, bring one, safe one; each one, bring one, care for one.
“In today’s programme, we have over 3500 people who were given free health services, and we achieved some purposes, and we raised awareness for our adopted community on their health status. We catered for their basic health challenges, and from there, we will know disease is prevalent in the community. Also, we will be able to know whether they are prone to epidemic.
“With this, we will be able to refer them to appropriate health authorities, or to a secondary, which is the general hospital or to a referral hospital’’.