Nearly 400 Lagos residents get free health screening, treatment

Nearly 400 residents received free medical screening, medicines and enrolment in the Lagos State health insurance scheme during a two-day medical outreach organised by the General Hospital, Somolu, in collaboration with government agencies and healthcare charities.

The recent intervention, which moved from the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, to the General Hospital, Somolu, focused on the early detection of common health conditions and extending basic preventive services to residents without the cost barrier associated with routine medical checks.

At the Somolu session, beneficiaries were screened for hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, prostate cancer and malaria.

They also received mental health screening and counselling, medication where required, and assistance with enrolment in the Lagos State Health Management Agency scheme.

The programme brought together the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Lagos State Health Management Agency, Global Health Charity and Training Foundation, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, DBA Comprehensive Health Charity and Capacity Health Foundation.

Declaring the outreach open on behalf of the Medical Director/Chief Executive Officer of General Hospital, Somolu, Adesina Ayodele, the Deputy Medical Director, Nathaniel Oja, said the hospital considered the initiative significant because of the scale of healthcare services being made available to residents at no cost.

Ayodele, in remarks delivered by Oja, thanked the participating organisations for funding and supporting the programme, as well as the medical personnel and volunteers who delivered the services.

“Health is a basic human right for everyone, but prevention is better than cure,” he said.

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The hospital also used the intervention to encourage beneficiaries who required additional treatment to remain within the formal healthcare system rather than treating the outreach as a substitute for continuing care.

Ayodele urged patients requiring further attention to return to the hospital for follow-up, assuring them that the facility would provide additional care within its capacity.

The lead partner, Adebayo Akintobi of the Global Health Charity and Training Foundation, told beneficiaries that the services were provided free of charge and urged them to make full use of the medical personnel available.

He encouraged participants to discuss their concerns openly with doctors and ask questions about their health rather than leaving the facility without understanding the results of their screenings.

Akintobi also expressed the foundation’s interest in extending its partnership with the hospital, linking the collaboration to broader efforts to improve healthcare access in Lagos.

The range of services offered meant that the outreach went beyond the treatment of immediate complaints, with screenings intended to identify health risks that may not yet have produced noticeable symptoms.

The organisers said the intervention also provided an opportunity to connect residents to LASHMA’s health insurance scheme, potentially giving beneficiaries access to healthcare beyond the duration of the outreach.