Lagos kicks off free healthcare in Ajeromi
• Employs 250 Physically Challenged In 2017
Lagos State government has kicked off its yearly Medical Mission. Already over 6,072 residents of Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Council have benefited from the free initiative held at the Council’s secretariat.
The medical team comprising of professionals provided services that included screening for non-communicable diseases, treatment of common ailments, HIV counseling and testing, family planning, screening and treatment of common eye diseases, dental care and general health talk.Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said the team would be visiting 11 local councils and 24 local council development areas in the coming days, spending three days at each location.
“This medical mission is significant because it will enable this administration to provide healthcare services to all patients, irrespective of their age, gender, socio-economic status and affiliation, and serve as a platform to groom the trust that our people have put in our capability to protect their health.”
Meanwhile, 250 people living with disabilities were gainfully employed by the state in 2017, ranking it as the state with the highest number of physically challenged in its employ.
General Manager, Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA), Dr. Babatunde Awelenje, who revealed this at the 60th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Federal Nigeria Society for the Blind (FNSB), Oshodi, Lagos, reiterated the state’s support for people living with disabilities.
“In 2017, 250 persons living with disabilities were engaged by the Lagos State government. And before then, there have been several pockets of recruitments that were not announced publicly by the current administration. Lagos State government has the highest number of people with disabilities in the civil service in Nigeria.”
Babatunde, who spoke on the topic, ‘Rehabilitating And Training The Visually Impaired – The Challenges And Way Forward’, said the issue of disability is complex, dynamic and multi-dimensional.
“The Lagos State government has taken the bull by the horn by the enactment of the Lagos State Special Peoples Law. Not only that, there was the subsequent establishment of an office saddled with responsibility of implementing and enforcing the law.“So many states like Kano and others have approached LASODA to learn how we’ve been doing it and we taught them. As I speak, Osun, Ogun and Ekiti State are about to have their own state disability bill enacted into law.”
