Nigerians have been urged to make annual medical check-ups a personal birthday gift, rather than wait until they fall ill before knowing the state of their health.

The Managing Director, Xtralarge Farms and Resorts, Dr. Moji Davids, gave the advice at the Xtralarge Wellness Festival organised by the company. She stressed that preventive healthcare remained critical to building healthy individuals, families and communities.

Davids said people often appeared healthy outwardly while serious health conditions could be developing internally without obvious symptoms.

She said Nigerians who forgot to schedule routine medical examinations should consider using their birthdays as a reminder to check their health.

“If you forget any time that you’re supposed to go for a medical check-up, give it to yourself as a birthday gift.

“So instead of buying all those Aso Ebi and throwing a large party and all that, just put the money together and go for a check-up,” Davids said.

According to her, routine medical examinations could detect conditions early and give individuals the opportunity to take appropriate action before such conditions became serious.

“There are many things that are happening within that we don’t know until you do a check-up before you are informed,” she said.

Davids, who disclosed that she had once been diagnosed with fatty liver despite appearing healthy, said the absence of obvious symptoms should not be taken as proof that all was well.

Her words: “I was looking very beautiful and nice, and my face was shining. But you know, something’s going on within, but you will never know.

“Sicknesses are no longer really killing people today. It is ignorance that is killing people.”

The Xtralarge Farms boss said wellness should not be treated as something people pursue only after becoming sick, but as a lifestyle built around prevention, proper nutrition, regular medical checks and healthy habits.

“Wellness is not when you fall down, or when you are weak, and you are now trying to take care of yourself. Wellness is the awareness of what to do, how to live a good life.

“We are not just talking about a healthy person; we are talking about a healthy family, which translates to a healthy community and, of course, translates to a healthy nation,” she stated.

Supporting the call, the Director, Medical Administration, Training and Programmes, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Mazeedat Akorede Erinosho, said the growing number of patients presenting at hospitals with advanced illnesses made preventive healthcare imperative.

Erinosho said healthcare must move beyond treating diseases after they have developed to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

“Healthcare is expanding beyond the clinic. The future lies in stopping disease before it begins rather than just expanding hospital beds.

“Our hospital beds, we don’t have enough because we have too many patients coming into hospitals,” she said.

She disclosed that Lagos State had more than 300 functional primary healthcare centres, with comprehensive primary healthcare centres in local government areas, as part of efforts to bring healthcare closer to residents and reduce pressure on secondary and tertiary facilities.

“The reason why the government had to do this is to ensure that we bring healthcare closer to people at the grassroots.

“At the Primary Health Care Centres, it is the first point of call to access care,” Erinosho said.

She explained that the facilities provide preventive and basic healthcare services, including maternal and child health services, immunisation and nutrition education.

Erinosho, who said she had worked extensively in child health and nutrition, also urged Nigerians to pay greater attention to what they eat, particularly during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.

She said Lagos State’s primary healthcare centres conduct food demonstration classes to teach mothers how to prepare nutritious meals using locally available food items.

“The mothers will go to the market, buy the foodstuffs, the local staples, and bring them to the PHC and cook it in the way and manner in which they have been taught to cook,” she said.

She stressed that malnutrition could affect people irrespective of their economic status.

The official also called for improved hygiene and environmental sanitation, urging parents to demonstrate healthy habits that their children could emulate.

“We are their mirror. They see us as role models. Before you know it, they are imbibing it,” she said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Xtralarge Farms and Resorts, Dr. Seyi Davids, also urged Nigerians to pay closer attention to the quality and source of the food they consume.

He said healthy living was closely linked to nutrition, while advocating greater consumption of fresh and properly produced food.

“You cannot be talking of well-being when you are eating the wrong food,” he said.

Davids said Xtralarge Farms was established with the vision of promoting healthier agricultural practices and making wholesome food available to consumers.

“Healthy living has to do 85 per cent with what you eat. The remaining 15 per cent is just exercises, good water. But what do you eat? Ask yourself, what do I eat and where do I buy it from?” he said.

He urged Nigerians to make healthy food choices part of their daily routines.

“Please, to live healthy, you have to obey simple instructions,” he appealed.

Davids said the wellness festival was designed to promote a holistic approach to health, bringing together medical doctors, nutritionists, dieticians, gynaecologists and other practitioners to educate participants on prevention and healthy living.