The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has began free healthcare services for over 1, 000 rural dwellers in Kwadom Community in Gombe state.
The programme tagged “2021 NYSC Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD)” was inaugurated in Kwadom community of Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area of Gombe state on Monday by the scheme’s Director-General, Brig.- Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim.
Ibrahim, represented by Mrs Esther Kadiri, Deputy Director, Community Development Service, NYSC Directorate Headquarters, said the initiative was launched in 2014.
He said that the aim of the programme was to deepen the impact of healthcare services across the country especially at the grassroots.
“It is a platform to contribute towards promoting the wellbeing of indigent persons at the grassroots by granting them easier access to free and quality healthcare.
“The programme is largely implemented through medical outreach in communities across the country during which corps medical volunteers carry out diagnosis, treatment, including minor medical procedures and referrals of patients,” he explained.
On her part, the NYSC Coordinator in Gombe state, Mrs Ada Imoni, said highly skilled corps medical volunteers had been mobilised to work with health personnel at the Kwadom Primary Health Care for the exercise.
Imoni stated that over 1, 000 rural dwellers would be attended to and free drugs given to them after proper diagnosis.
She noted that the health intervention would go a long way in ensuring national development through improvement in the health and wellbeing of rural dwellers who were majorly agrarians.
Dr Abdulrahman Shuaibu, the Executive Secretary of Gombe state Primary Health Care Development Agency, said the initiative would help bridge the gap in healthcare service delivery in rural areas.
Shuaibu added that the programme was vital, as the corps medical volunteers also provided health education which helped the people to make informed choices about their health and stem the high mortality in rural areas.
Mohammed Abubakar, the District Head of Kwadom, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, said his district was grateful to the NYSC for the initiative.
Abubakar maintained that the services of NYSC in the country cut across almost all sectors and “our communities have been benefitting from their services especially teaching our children at primary and secondary school levels.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that over 50 corps medical volunteers had been deployed for the two-day exercise, comprising doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, dentists, opticians, pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists, nutritionists among others
