No fewer than 4,000 people with various health challenges from Oraifite in Ekwusigo Local Government Area, and its environs in Anambra State, were given free medical treatment, sponsored by Sir Emeka Okwuosa Foundation, in conjunction with Voom Foundation.
The Medical Fair was personally flagged off by Sir Emeka Okwuosa, who is also the Chairman and Chief Executive of Oilserv Limited, at Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital, Irefi, Oraifite.
Some ailments like diabetes, blood pressure, hypertension, malaria, eye problems, among other cases, were handled by over ten medical doctors brought from the United States of America for the Medical Fair.
Speaking during the flagging off of the occasion, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Oilserv Limited, and founder of the foundation, Sir Emeka Okwuosa, an engineer, said there was no motive behind his philanthropic gesture other than to ensure that the health challenges of Oraifite people and its environs were addressed.
“The basic motive is nothing else but to help the people of Oraifite and its environs in addressing their health challenges, that is of paramount importance to us. Our mission is to help mankind and make the lives of our people better.
“More doctors are coming to join and we will do our best to ensure people get the best medical treatment, do not forget that this is a very detailed process as you can see here. There are different centers where various ailments are addressed. So, in as much as we want to move fast, we want to be detailed and make sure we really help people who need medical attention.
“I believe we will achieve our target. Right now we have a total of ten doctors from United States of America in different areas of specialty, deployed for this programme, it does not matter what it cost us to bring the American doctors to render the medical services to our people, what matters is the relief the service will give mankind.
“With due respect, all I can tell you is that I am not looking at how much it takes me, not because the capacity to fund it is not limitless but what I am doing is philanthropy. I do not really want to get into how much it is going to cost to do this.
“However, be rest assured that it is an expensive venture because all these medical personnel you see came in from the USA. Just flight ticket alone, you know what it is but the issue is that we want to make sure that people feel the impact of what we are doing and not how much we have spent to achieve that.”
The Executive Director of the foundation, Sir Azuka Okwuosa, in his speech, said the Medical Fair is not targeted at any segment of the population, but meant for all who have health challenges, assuring that improvement would continue to be recorded on a daily basis.
“When you look at the enormity of problems in society today, in all aspects of life, everything appears to have collapsed in the country health-wise, in education and every other thing. We have hospitals and health centers scattered in different parts of the country, but most of them are not functional.
“What we are doing here today is trying to cushion the effects of the sufferings of our people who have health challenges. You can see the huge response which indicates that many have been suffering in silence. So, we feel challenged and I know that what you have seen today is a tip of the iceberg.
“We intend to expand this medical facility in the shortest possible time to be able to accommodate the teeming number of people who are expecting medical services, as a lot spend millions of naira to go to India and other countries when the issues are at a critical stage and sometimes end up not getting results.
“We want make his place the first port of call where people can arrest issues at a very early stage to save lives. By this time next year, you will be talking about surgery and more other things in this center.”
