Over 3.6m people benefits from NYSC’s health initiative since inception

The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig. Gen. Yusha’u Ahmed, said 3,615,000 Nigerians has benefitted from the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) since inception in 2014.

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He disclosed this during the inauguration of the first quarter 2024 Special HIRD/Mobile Healthcare Intervention Programme held at Gosa-Sarki, a community in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Thursday.

According to him, the initiative reached out to people by sensitising them on causes and prevention of diseases, treatment of ailments and referrals.

He said, “Our target is to reach at least 500,000 additional beneficiaries this year (2024).”

The director-general said the initiative is the platform through which the NYSC catered for the health needs of people in rural communities, who have little or no access to quality healthcare.

He added that the scheme was deploying resources at its disposal to complement Federal Government’s efforts toward achieving Universal Health Coverage as part of its social welfare programmes.

He added that, “In driving this initiative, we leverage the expertise of youth corps medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and laboratory scientists that are deployed to render free and quality medical services to communities across the country.

“We also mobilise medical consumables, including drugs, to treat ailments, while referrals are made to relevant health facilities, when necessary.”

Ahmed said that the successes recorded in the programme over the years were partly due to stakeholders’ support, especially those who provided resources such as drugs and other consumables for use during the outreaches.

He commended the patriotic zeal of the youth corps members of successive batches, who have been the field implementers of the HIRD in all states of the Federation and the FCT.

Hajiya Zainab Isah, the Director, Community Development Service and Special Projects, said that the inauguration signalled official commencement of the 2024 medical outreaches, which would be conducted nationwide.

She said state secretariats of the scheme would take the health services to several communities at various times within the year.

She explained that, “For the launch we are witnessing here, we have mobilised 50 youth corps medical personnel comprising 20 doctors, 12 pharmacists, 10 nurses, eight medical laboratory scientists to attend to members of this community.

“Highlight of activities we will carry out in the next two days include sensitisation on causes and prevention of diseases, diagnosis, check-ups and treatment of a wide range of ailments.

“As usual, medical conditions that require greater expertise or more sophisticated facilities than the ones at our disposal will be referred to the appropriate facilities.”

The District Head of Gosa District, Mr Isaku Joseph said, “It is commendable for the scheme to bring such initiative to the community.”

The outreach will help in bridging the gap in healthcare delivery the community is experiencing.

He appealed to other organisations to emulate the scheme by helping communities where applicable.