The National Youth Service Corps under its Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) scheme has offered free medical services to several residents of two Kaduna communities, covering the first and second quarters of 2022 medical outreach.
Inaugurated in 2015, the NYSC-HIRD scheme is targeted at providing free healthcare for rural and indigent urban dwellers who lack access to basic health facilities and services, leveraging on the corps’ medical volunteers who diagnose, treat, make referrals and proper prevention mechanisms as applicable to the beneficiaries.
In Kaduna, the people of the Hanyi Danbushiya community in the Chikun local government area of the state were the beneficiaries of the first quarter outreach held at Fadar Sarkin Danbushiya palace.
While the residents of Kakuri in Kaduna South local government area of the state are the beneficiaries of the second quarter held at Hakimi Palace, Kaduna.
The Assistant Director of Community Development Service, CDS Kaduna state secretariat, Stella Chukwunonso Ogbechie who spoke on behalf of the state coordinator, Isah Wana said, since its launch in 2015, NYSC-HIRD has been enhancing the general well-being of rural dwellers across the country which would be sustained.
According to her, “we are observing our quarterly NYSC-HIRD in Kaduna state. The first quarter is held in Danbushiya in Chikun LGA while the second quarter is held here in Kakuri, Kaduna South LGA.
“This is a programme designed and packaged by the CDS department of NYSC National Directorate Headquarters and the idea behind it is to address the issue of lack of basic care facilities and services in our rural settings”.
“As we know, NYSC is endowed with rich medical personnel in form of corps doctors, corps pharmacists, corps optometrists, corps nurses and the rest of them. So, we mobilize these volunteered professional Nigerians to achieve reaching out to the grassroots who don’t have access to basic care facilities and services”.
“The cases we cannot handle here will be referred to tertiary health facilities by our corps doctors”, she emphasised.
Stella added that they have drugs and mosquito nets to give to beneficiaries as the need arises, especially the pregnant women.
Dominica Nwabufo
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