The Omituntun Free Health Mission in Oyo State has recorded a landmark achievement with over 300, 000 beneficiaries accross the state.
A statement signed by the Coordinating Director, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Gideon Alade, revealed that the second quarter of the outreach, which came to an end on Thursday at the Ring Road Specialist Hospital, Ibadan, the state capital, witnessed an increase in the number of eye surgeries, dental care, and physiotherapy cases treated, compared to previous ones.
The statement says, the Permanent Secretary (PS), Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Olusoji Adeyanju, while speaking on the campaign, expressed delight over the incorporation of dental care, eye treatment and physiotherapy into the free medical outreach, hinting that 50 percent of those who benefited from the surgeries were pensioners.
He stated: “1, 639 benefited from eye surgery with glasses given at no cost, while 262 cataracts were done successfully. What gladdens my heart is the good will of our governor and immense support for the project.
“When we started the Free Health Mission during Omituntun 1.0, treatment like dental care, eye treatment and physiotherapy were not there, now we have them in Omituntun 2.0,” the PS noted.
Adeyanju maintained that 2,128 surgeries had been done, with about 50 percent of the beneficiaries being pensioners, while there had been 5,444 beneficiaries for dental care and 1, 288 beneficiaries for physiotherapy.
Also speaking, the Coordinator, Omituntun Free Health Mission, Dr Wale Falana, submitted that the project was massive, considering its impact on the people of the state.
Dr Falana, who doubles as the Director, Secondary Health Care and Training, in the ministry, hinted that over 300,000 residents benefited from the project, noting that there were decreases in hernia cases, which he said was testimony that the project was yielding positive results.
He advised the beneficiaries placed on drugs, particularly hypertension and diabetes, among others, to use their drugs accordingly, admonishing residents of the state to subscribe to the Oyo State Health Insurance Scheme with the payment of stipends for them to access needed health care.
In their separate remarks, some beneficiaries, Sola Oyebode and Sulaiman Nurudeen, applauded Governor Seyi Makinde for the gesture and commended the medical team for prompt and qualitative health care accorded for free.
Sola Oyebode, however, appealed to the Oyo State Government to focus more on rural dwellers in the nooks and crannies of the state due to their poor financial status in the society.
The next phase of the free health mission, according to the coordinator, would commence in the next three to four months.
