Pius Dukor, Port Harcourt
As the cost of medical care continues to grow out of the reach of the common man and the vulnerable, Bariel Medical Center has collaborated with its partners, in a programme tagged Medical Outreach 2023, to give free medical assistant to some vulnerable families in Rivers State.
Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the chief medical director and CEO of Bariel Medical Center, Dr. Gbaranen Gbaanador, said for the past one week his team and some of his partners had treated many patients with various ailments free of charge as part of their efforts to reduce the medical burdens of some very less privileged people in the society.
He explained that people who had eye problem were given eye glasses while some were also treated free of charge.
The medical director maintained that some people use non-medical approachs to treat illness, which is unethical and may aggravate the sickness if proper diagnosis was not done.
Gbaanador stated that some of the healthcare services offered at the free medical outreach include for high blood pressure, diabetes, malaria and eye problem among others, noting that each of the ailment were seriously diagnosed before treatment.
When asked how people came to know about the program, the medical director said the medical center used the both the new media and traditional means of communication to invite the public through the church, community town meeting, text messages, among others.
He told journalists that one of the young people, who came from the United States as part of the medical team, had her first experience on how issues of sickness and treatment are done in Nigeria especially in Rivers State.
Gbaanador expressed happiness on the discovery of new malaria drugs by scientists, adding that the best way to treat malaria is prevention. He however advised that those who have symptoms should take proper diagnosis before treatment and not self medication.
On her part, Miss Bari-mmeziga Deebom who came from the United States to be part of the medical outreach expressed disappointment that some of the ailments were actually connected to hunger and depression, as some of the patients appear to be thinking of how to survive, hence the many cases of hypertension relating to high blood pressure and improper nutrition.
Deebom advised the Nigerian government to also make plans to take care of the medical bills of some of the vulnerable families in the society as a way of alleviating their suffering.
She said the medical outreach was interesting and exciting working with very senior medical doctors. On the issue of the prevalent sickness, which is malaria, she said the best way is to prevent malaria than treating it.
On how to sustain the medical outreach, Dr. Gbaanador stated that the medical center had been in operation for some time, adding that this was not the first time they were embarking on the free medical outreach.
He noted that the outreach has two forms; one of which is to offer the people medical care, and secondly to expose some young Nigerians living in America to also have first hand knowledge of Nigeria’s healthcare challenges and how to intervene. “We have fertilized, they should find a way to invest in their fatherland,” he said.
Some of the partners behind the outreach are, Donubari Deebom, a respiratory therapist in the United States, Medical Mission International and Earthwise Surgical Center, all based in America.
