Over 500 senior citizens benefit from Lions Club free medical outreach in Lagos

Over five hundred residents residing within Yaba LCDA have benefited from the Nutrition and health awareness outreach organised by the Yaba Centennial Lions Club at Iwaya Primary Health Center, Lagos at the weekend.

The beneficiaries aged 60 and above were given free diabetes screening, free blood pressure checks, free drugs and food palliatives.

Speaking at the event, Lion Tosin Olapo second vice president, and the service chairperson of Yaba Centennial Lions Club said: “Our health project is focused on diabetics, testing, and awareness. We are distributing basic drugs to people who have been identified with one or two health issues.

Explaining further, Olapo said that Lions International have eight global causes that we focus on every year from July to June every service year. We implement projects within these eight global causes which include, the vision, paediatric cancer, environment, feed the hungry, diabetics, youth empowerment and disaster relief.”

“The government can’t do everything alone. That is why in our little way, we have decided to impact our community. We have professionals of like mind, entrepreneurs coming together to give back in our little way to the community.”

We raise funds we also go out and seek sponsorship and ensure that whatever money we raise, we are accountable for that money and we use it to make an impact.”

“Today we are going to be carrying out diabetic testing for over 500 senior citizens in Iwaya community and we are also giving them food palliative.”

The outreach is to give them that sense of belonging that we care, we feel their pain and we know what they are going through. We want them to feel loved. We spent close to N950,000 to put the outreach together.

According to Lion Arinola Anita Nosiru, President Yaba Centennial Lion Club 23/24 service year, “the outreach is a two-in-one project, the first phase is the free healthcare and the second phase is the food palliative which we call feed the hungry.”

The project is for the aged people from sixty years and above, who need medical attention. We chose from age 60 and above because they are the elder ones in the society and these aged people don’t have access to information, unlike the younger generation.”

We have doctors on ground to attend to them, and for those who need route high blood pressure drugs, drugs are available for them.”

“We try as much as we can to provide food for those we feel they might not be able to afford it just to provide a little succour to their current situation.”

“Annually every Lions Club is expected to run a diabetics project, monthly there is a project that every Lion club must participate in.

Next month is pediatric cancer we will be back here in Iwaya to see the pregnant women. And educate them on the right food to eat and how to take care of their babies. So that they can afford cancer for them at a young age.”

Appreciating the Yaba LCDA, Arinola said: We thank the LCDA of Iyawa, the health ministry, and the chairman Yaba CDA for giving us the opportunity to be able to reach out to the residents of Iwaya lCDA.

Meanwhile, Ishola Seun Ibrahim Supervisor for Health Yaba LCDA thanked the organisers. “We appreciate the effort of Lions Club in organising this laudable outreach. We thank them for complementing the effort of the government.”

“It is through the health tests that some of the beneficiaries discovered that they have high sugar levels, high blood pressure, diabetes and other health issues. Some of them who were diagnosed with health issues were also given medication.”

“The outreach is not only for residents in Iwaya community, other residents within Yaba LCDA see also beneficiaries. The LCDA helped to mobilize residents in different communities to participate in the outreach,” Ibrahim added.

The highlight of the event was the health talk where a medical practitioner educated participants on the symptoms of diabetics, the type of diabetics, how to manage diabetics and live healthy lives Food palliatives will also be given to all beneficiaries.

news homepage, Right Now

menu

Article