No fewer than 1,500 residents of Etab Ayib village in Kasuk II Qua Clan in Calabar Municipal Local Government Area of Cross River benefited from a medical outreach provided by the National Association of Seadogs (NAS).
The outreach was organized by the Jokaina Deck of the association that is also known as “Seadogs” as part of activities to mark the confraternity’s 70th anniversary holding globally.
President of Jokaina Deck, Mr Sylvester Nsor, said the essence of the outreach was to realize Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) Three which centered on health.
Nsor said they focused on the SDG Three in a bid to cater for the health needs of people living within their host communities.
According to him, “As a non profit organization, we thought it wise to bring Medicare closer to the people, especially residents of Kasuk II Qua Clan because we feel their pulse and we know that healthcare is very expensive.
“A lot of people living within the community have not had any test for years and some for decades.
“So, after our consultation, we decided to bring in medical doctors, pharmacists amongst others, who can check their blood and sugar level, vital signs including blood pressure, malaria and typhoid tests and so on.
“After carrying out tests, we provided drugs to the issues we can handle immediately while the people who need to visit tertiary health facilities were referred to such facilities and all our services are absolutely free.”
On his part , the Clan Head of Kasuk II Qua Clan, Dr Edemdem Ayito, lauded NAS for the kind gesture and noted that healthcare had become so expensive which many rural inhabitants could no longer afford.
The clan head commended the association for choosing to carry out an exercise of such magnitude in his domain that had brought succor to his subjects as well as residents of the area.
“A lot of people find it difficult if not impossible to go to hospital these days because they can no longer afford it .
“I sincerely thank the national association for finding time for this humanitarian services which come with a huge sacrifice.
“The services they have rendered are totally free and it had taken a huge burden off the palace and my people too.
“A lot of persons have resorted to self medication and over the counter drugs, which is very dangerous, but we can’t blame them because many of them don’t even have what to eat talk more of going to see a qualified doctor. So NAS has done us a great favor today,” he stated.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Lovett Origele, said she was happy for the free medical check up and the drugs , stressing that NAS brought Medicare to their doorsteps, making healthcare easily accessible.
“I want to thank NAS for carrying out this free health service in our neighborhood, It’s a settlement community where there is no functional health center, the outreach is a welcome development.
“This exercise has brought healthcare closer to the people who may not have time or may not have access to it. But with this gesture by NAS, a lot of people will access healthcare services for free which they have not done in years,” she said.
