By Ubong Sampson
As the free medical and surgical outreach in Oron LG and environs sponsored by Hensek Integrated Services in partnership with Nigerian Medical Association ended on Friday February 16, 2024, stakeholders in the area and beneficiaries of the outreach have counted their gains and the impacts the outreach has left on their individual health, as well as the general health situation of the area.
A former chairman of Oron Local Government Council, Victor Okon who spoke with newsmen hinted that the exercise was not only completely free, but had provisions to cover various health issues, including surgeries.
While stressing that the people of Oro nation and residents were happy with the magnanimity extended to them and were grateful to the sponsor, Hensek Integrated Services and partners, Okon added that the state would be much better if there are more of such gestures from the privileged citizens extended to the less privileged ones.
He further added that it was the wish and prayer of the Oro people for the company to expand beyond the shores of Nigeria.
According to a beneficiary, Aniefiok Godwin Frank who underwent a surgical operation, he was grateful to God for his life, and to the sponsor for the intervention after three years of sickness.
His words: “I had a sickness called hernia since 2022, but today, I came to this hospital in Oron and had a surgery. I entered the theatre and came out alive. I thank God for the successful operation on me.
“I appreciate Hensek (Engr. Uwem Okoko) for the love he has for Akwa Ibom people and I pray God’s blessings on him. May God grant all his desires for the love he has shown fellow indigenes of the state, and give him the ability to do even bigger things for humanity”.
On her part, Mrs Affiong Shola hinted that she was at the same facility the previous week to undergo some tests and scans which revealed a lump on the left side of her breast.
“The doctor advised I should remove it. Later on that evening, I heard there was a free medical treatment at this same hospital so I came on Monday and registered. Today, I was operated on and the lump was removed. Not felt anything like I was operated on. I thank God for the intervention by Hensek free medical programme”, Shola hinted.
She also hinted that her son was also a direct beneficiary of the intervention and appreciated the sponsor for the intervention, while describing the gesture as life saving.
“My Son was also operated on and it ended successfully. I want to thank God for Hensek because what they have done, I don’t think any man can repay them. May God give them the ability to do more because they have saved lives”, she added.
Another beneficiary, Samuel Anthony from Mbo LG had this to say:
“My wife is one of the beneficiaries. She had fibroid for about three years, and we thank God for a successful operation without complications. Our experience before now was very terrible because every month she will bleed profusely. There was a time she bled and was rushed to he hospital, she had just two grams of blood left which is just six percent. She was treated and we spent a lot of money and there was no money left for the operation.
“So we thank God for Hensek because today, my wife is fine. She was operated on and she is fine. I want to express my gratitude to Hensek. God will bless him. What he has done, mouth cannot express. I saw something today that broke my heart. I saw things that were removed from people’s bodies through this act of benevolence. I appreciate Hensek for saving my wife’s life by paying for the operation and for all the drugs and injections she needed.”
While fielding questions from newsmen, the Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association– Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Emem Abraham stressed that the outreach has been very beneficial to Akwa Ibomites, adding that the high cost of living has made more people unable to afford healthcare services.
According to Dr. Abraham, same outreach had happened in several other areas at the instance of the sponsor, but that the sponsor had decided to bring it to Oron this time to also touch people in that part of the state.
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In her words: “You know how costly things are now. Previously, during a medical outreach like this, you will only have those who could not afford health care, but now, because of high cost of living, high cost of medical procedures, drugs, etc, you will have thousands of people coming out whenever an outreach is publicised.
And in this particular outreach, we have seen so many cases that in my years of practice, I’ve not seen such. We have people from all walks of life coming to benefit because they can’t afford health care. This is how much the outreach has been very helpful to many. Especially the surgical cases.
“People who were just waiting for their day to come, suddenly saw God-sent help from nowhere. I am an entomologist, we’ve seen people who had given up hope that they will never see again, but they came here and had their surgeries and went back with their sight. We had men who were carrying very big hernias around and had become laughing stocks in their communities, but are now okay. We also had women that came here with terrible gynaecological conditions like very big fibroid. They came here and benefited from the medical intervention, and are okay now to continue their lives from where they stopped. People have been given back their lives, hope has been restored and it’s like seeing light at the end of the tunnel.”
Dr. Emem further hinted that the association had ensured that the outreach paraded some of the very best of medical experts in the state which according to her, were mostly indigenous, indicating that, based on the results and performance recorded, Akwa Ibom alone can produce enough expertise to feed programmes of that sort.
Addressing newsmen, the Medical Director, General Hospital, Iquita, Dr. Sebastian Noah noted that the programme was particularly commendable because many of the surgeries carried out during the intervention had been on ailments that have been prevalent.
He said he was surprised to see the numbers that turned out, which according to him, meant that there were so many sick people who sadly could not access the quality of healthcare they needed as a result of lack of funds.
He further appreciated the sponsor of the outreach and partners for such impacting touch on humanity.
Addressing newsmen at the end of the event in Oron, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Hensek Integrated Services, Engr. Uwem Okoko expressed gratitude to God for a successful outreach and the many surgeries recorded with zero casualty.
Engr. Okoko appreciated his partners, the NMA for deploying some of the best experts in Akwa Ibom to the outreach, and the Akwa Ibom state government for granting them free access to the facility and for its patronage of the Hensek Brand, which he said, makes available the profits that are committed to the CSR programmes.
Okoko extended his appreciation to a former NMA Chairman, Dr. Aniekeme Uwah who he said, suggested the initiative to him back in 2017 before his philanthropic disposition took over from there to sustain it thus far and weighty.
“We’ve been doing it twice a year, one in Ikot Abasi and the next one from any place in Akwa Ibom. We’ve done it in Uyo, Ikot Okoro (Oruk Anam LG), Ituk mbang (Uruan LG) together with the Nigerian Medical Association. Now we’ve successfully done in Iquita Oron. I want to thank God and also the Chairman of Nigerian Medical Association, she’s a powerful woman who in her time during the 9th edition of this program in Ikot Abasi which was flagged-off by the then Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
“While also thanking the Medical Superintendent of the facility, Dr. Noah and hospital staff for their cooperation, as well as the secretary and officials of the NMA, he described the 10th edition of the outreach in Oron as the best organised edition.
He further appreciated the local organising committee for providing the volunteers who assisted in serving and coordinating the large crowd of patients, while also commending their commitment to work while the programme lasted.
