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Wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has flagged off her free health screening project in Ibadan, to the excitement of over 2500 beneficiaries.
Over 2,500 women drawn from the 33 local government areas of the state benefitted from the free screening tagged: ‘Future Assured’. They were screened for hypertension, diabetes, breast and cervical cancer.
During the flag off, Buhari advised that people should not wait for symptoms of diseases before approaching health facilities for medical check ups.
She said medical check ups create opportunities for early detection of ailments and prompt initiation of treatment.
She urged women in the state to take advantage of the programme to advance their personal healthcare.
Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, and his wife, Florence, poured praises on Mrs Buhari.
The governor, while addressing the crowd of women, politicians, civil servants and ordinary citizens who attended the event at Loyola College, described the project as a challenge to all leaders in the country to address the need of the people.
The governor said:
“The kindness expressedin Mrs Buhari’s project epitomizes the kindness required of our leaders. The way she has gone about it is worthy of emulation .”
Ajimobi also statedthat his administration’s focus on healthcare delivery would not change in spite of dwindling resources.
His words:
“The strengthened primary health system, we expect, to initially attend to the needs and aspirations of the vulnerable group; the women, children and elderly. This step-wise approach is targeted to extend to all and sundry within the shortest possible time. It is to this effect that Government did the structural arrangement of her health sector which has led to emergence of two new agencies, the State Health Insurance and Primary Health Care Agencies. These agencies were created to further strengthen affordable, quality and prompt essential health care delivery in Oyo State.
” Presently, the community health insurance scheme covers six local government areas in the state with two in each senatorial zone. Within the next six months, all the 11 local government areas in Ibadan would be reached and all the 33 local government areas of the state will have accessed full benefits of the scheme within the next one year. To us, it is a sustainable people focused health programme with plenty of room for private sector participation. The administrative and physical structure of the Primary Health Care Agency has been successfully laid and Government is gradually and systematically building on this foundation in the actualization of its goal.”
Mrs Ajimobi also hailed Mrs Buhari for the focus of the project, adding that it was an excellent addition to her own health pet project, Access to Basic Medical Care Foundation which has also offered free screening for about one million beneficiaries since inception.
She praised Mrs Buhari for choosing health, which she emphasized is a major index in measuring development of any community or nation.
Present at the flag off were other state First Ladies – Mrs Funso Amosun, Serifat Aregbesola, Bolanle Ambode, Lara Oshiomhole and Nkechi Omorocha, of Ogun, Osun, Lagos, Edo and Imo respectively.
Also in attendance were Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Senator Monsurat Sunmonu; former Plateau State Deputy Governor Pauline Taulin; wife of the Minister of Sold Minerals, Erelu Bisi Fayemi and her Works, Power and Housing counterpart, Mrs Dame Fashola.
Monarchs, Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III and the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, were also in attendance.
