The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), on Thursday, launched the NDDC/Arit Walden free healthcare mission in Imo State.
The event took place at the Arthur Nzeribe General Hospital in Oguta Local Government Area of the state.
The week-long programme, which was last organised in 2019, aims to bring succour to the people in the nine NDDC states.
In an address at the event, the NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, said the first medical intervention was suspended in 2019.
Ogbuku said that no fewer than two million Niger Delta people, who had little or no access to modern health facilities, were treated of all kinds of ailments.
He said that the treatment ranged from minimal consultations for malaria or upper respiratory tract infections to cogent cases, such as fibroid surgeries, eye surgeries with intraocular lens implantation, dental surgeries as well as maxillofacial repairs, amongst others.
Ogbuku was represented at the event by the commission’s Director, Directorate of Education, Health and Social Services, Dr George Uzonwanne.
He said that the commission’s mandate of facilitating sustainable development in the Niger Delta region must begin with ensuring that the social infrastructure needs of the people in areas of education, health and sanitation must also be addressed.
“The current Governing Board and management of the commission believe that to develop a place, we must be concerned about and committed to developing the people.
“Indeed, the people are the primary beneficiaries of development and it is they who can make development sustainable.
“As it is always said, health is wealth.
“And so, as part of the strategy to bring prosperity to the Niger Delta region, it is urgent and imperative for the commission to build a region of healthy people.
“The social infrastructure needs of the people in areas of education, health and sanitation must also be addressed, while we provide better physical intrastructures, which aim to bridge existent infrastructure gaps, improve human capital base and reduce poverty,” he said.
Uzonwanne also said that the mission hoped to attend to a minimum of 3,000 persons during the programme.
In an address, the Imo Director of NDDC, Mr Kelechi Nwelue, said that at least 2,000,000 people had benefitted from the programme since its inception.
Nwelue commended the commission for reviving the programme and urged the people to make most of the opportunity.
Also, the Imo Representative on the NDDC Board, Dr Kyrian Uchegbu, said that without investing in health, there would be no proper appreciation of infrastructure development efforts of the commission.
He underscored the need to preserve all the provisions made to improve the quality of life of the Niger Delta people at all costs.
No fewer than 28 eye surgeries had been performed since the start of the programme, while a minimum of 1,500 patients had been attended to.
