RRI offers 200,000 nutrition interventions, 4,349 surgeries in 5 months – FG

A health intervention, Rapid Response Initiative (RRI), has brought relief to the indigents in the country, by off ering free surgeries and health screenings to the less privileged. Th e Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, announced that a total of 4,349 surgeries and 17, 793 health screenings were off ered to less-privileged citizens of the country through the intervention within fi ve months.

Th e minister who disclosed this in a statement made available by the Director of Media and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, Boade Akinola, said over 200,000 nutritional interventions were provided to children suff ering from malnutrition in the country’s north-east. Prof. Adewole was quoted as saying “the ministry had set a target to deliver 10,150 free surgeries and screenings to help alleviate the suff erings of the poorest Nigerians who cannot aff ord to pay. “Th e intervention has since scaled to become a full fl edged project.

Th e health sector nutrition and emergency response is delivering a set of comprehensive health interventions and emergency services in the troubled region. “Th is programme is a promise kept by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which has a pro-poor universal health coverage agenda.” He was further quoted as saying the programme was borne out of plan to respond to the critical needs of the people and deliver on the mandate of promoting health with focus on access, aff ordability and demand.

Adewole also noted that the programme encapsulates a set of initiatives, developed as a strategy to actualize the vision of the present administration, to produce quick and visible impacts that will aff ect the lives of every citizen, especially the most vulnerable. He said: “Th e six components of the programme include surgical interventions, screening of Nigerians for major diseases, revitalization of PHCS, mutual health assurance, treatment of 200,000 severely acutely malnourished children and operationalizing the Nigeria centre for disease control.

“Th e programme sought to deliver 10,150 surgeries to the indigent Nigerians among which are, herniorrhaphy 4,240; cataract extraction 2,300; cleft lip and palate repair 450; club foot repair100; keloid cryotherapy 80; VVF repair 300; myomectomy /hysterectomy 840; hydrocoelectomy 840 and correction of refractive errors plus glasses 1000.” Th e health screenings cover 22,000 cancer screening: 10,000 cervical, 10,000 breast and 2,000 prostate, 42,000 diabetes mellitus screening; 42,000 hepatitis B virus screening as well as 60,000 mass de-worming, the release added. RRI was launched by the Federal Government in July, 2016.

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