Date: 2023-07-25

Members of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in Kwara North Central Nigeria have been offered free medical care by the state Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). The state Chairman of the Association, Dr Ola Ahmed in his remarks at the occasion, disclosed that the programme is part of the activities marking its 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Scientific Conference adding that this is one of the ways they can give back to society.

According to him, since the inception of his administration, the association has enjoyed a good relationship with the top hierarchy of the Nigeria Police, Kwara Command and they now decided to use the opportunity of their AGM to reach out to the other Officers and Men of the Command.

According to him, the outreach is to help people solve some minor ailments, identify major ones that will require counselling and other management and refer them appropriately. He observed that things are difficult now and one of the ways the association helps the people is to carry out medical outreach for the citizens.

Ahmed also charged people in Kwara to key into the Kwara State Health Insurance Scheme (Kwara Care) to mitigate the impact of economic hardship on their health explaining that Kwara Care is affordable, available and accessible across the 16 Local Government Areas of the state.

The Vice-Chairman 1 of the association, Dr Julius Dare explained that during the medical outreach about 216 adults and 48 children were attended to, out of which 90 NPF were giving free healthcare and services. He pointed out that the NMA chose to extend the medical outreach to the NPF so as to foster a good relationship.

“We must say that we have enjoyed a good relationship with the police. In a way, our roles are the same; we are involved in saving lives, and the NPF also protect lives and properties. Medical outreach also affords the opportunity to screen and improve the status of the health of the police. This is also an opportunity for us to reduce global morbidity, especially for non-communicable diseases which we have noticed to be on the increase. Hopefully, we can reach out to other agencies subsequently in our medical outreaches,” he said.

The medical expert disclosed that some of the health challenges recorded include malaria, hypertension, diabetes, peptic ulcer diseases and musculoskeletal pain generally associated with the elderly.

He advised the NPF and the generality of people that health is wealth, adding that everybody should take care of their health. Dare observed that healthcare is not cheap in the country and that people should be more involved in preventive health.

The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Okasanmi Ajayi commended the NMA for the medical outreach to members. He described the relationship between the force and NMA as cordial while appreciating the efforts of NMA, particularly the Chairman Dr Ola Ahmed.

According to him, the NPF and the NMA have been working and collaborating together explaining that as the police are saving lives and properties of the citizenry the doctors are also protecting and saving lives.