National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says it has attended to more than two million people under its Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) programme since its inception in 2014.
NYSC Director-General (DG), Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, made this known on Monday at the flag-off of nationwide health week, under the HIRD programme, in Isuada community, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Ibrahim, represented, by the NYSC Coordinator in Ondo State, Mrs Victoria Ani, also said that the scheme had donated more than 300 wheel chairs, with the support of partners through the programme.
“The centrally-coordinated medical outreach, with the theme: `Health is Wealth for Advancement’, encourages Nigerians in local communities, where the outreaches are taking place, to avail themselves of free medical services.
“Driven by our determination to deepen the impacts of our health care services, management launched the NYSC-HIRD in 2014.
“It is a platform for contributing towards promoting the wellbeing of indigent persons at the grassroots by granting them easier access to free and quality health care.
“The programme is largely implemented through medical outreaches in communities across the country during which corps medical volunteers carry out diagnosis.
“Drugs, eye glasses and other medical consumables are also given to patients free-of-charge,” he said.
The director-general also seized the occasion to remind people of the various achievements and intervention programmes embarked upon by different batches of corps members.
He called for the support of corporate bodies and well meaning individuals towards actualising the setting up of mobile clinics for wider outreach.
Earlier, the Asuada of Isuada, Oba Olufemi Adeluwoye, appreciated the scheme for bringing what he described as a laudable programme to his community
The traditional ruler urged those calling for scrapping of NYSC to imagine the number of lives that would be saved in the community, with just one out of the several initiatives of the scheme in a sector.
He urged his subjects to take full advantage of the initiative by getting themselves diagnosed and treated.
