The Lagos State Health Service Commission Workers and Patients Christian Fellowship has urged youths to shun drug abuse, warning that substance abuse could damage their future and bring disrepute to their families and the country.

The call was made at the fellowship’s 40th annual thanksgiving held at Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos, where Christian leaders and healthcare administrators gathered to celebrate the organisation’s activities and reflect on its role in supporting patients and healthcare workers.

Speaking at the event, the Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer of Gbagada General Hospital, Dr Oseni Saliu described the anniversary as an opportunity to celebrate the fellowship’s longstanding relationship with healthcare workers and patients.

Saliu, who said he resumed at the hospital in May, described hosting the event as a privilege, noting that the fellowship had continued to bring healthcare workers together across the state while extending support to patients.

He said members of the fellowship had, over the years, organised programmes and provided assistance to patients in need, including through fundraising and individual contributions.

The fellowship’s activities, he added, had received support from hospital management teams and medical directors across the state.

In his remarks, the Assistant Continental Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor EA Kalejaiye urged young people to embrace Christianity and live by its values.

He said, “I want our youths to have the fear of God. Having the fear of God is what you must determine to do. Any youth that has accepted Jesus should not go into drugs so that they will not destroy the name of their family and Nigeria as a nation.”

The General Overseer of Food Providers and Believers International Ministry, Dr Esther Ajibola Ayepola, and former president of the fellowship, also highlighted the organisation’s achievements during her tenure.

She said the fellowship began holding a mega thanksgiving in 2017 after she received what she described as divine instruction to move its annual celebration beyond the small rooms where it was previously held.

According to her, the first mega thanksgiving took place at Gbagada General Hospital after the then Medical Director granted permission to use the hospital’s car park.

Ayepola said the fellowship later began building chapels in hospitals to provide permanent places of worship for members and patients.

She added that about eight chapels had been completed by the time she retired and handed over in 2023, while efforts to build more were continuing through fundraising and other activities.

A former Medical Director of Gbagada General Hospital, Dr Olusegun Babafemi, called on the fellowship to focus more on direct assistance to patients as it entered its next phase.

Babafemi said the fellowship had expanded to almost all the 29 hospitals under the commission but needed to strengthen its impact by helping patients who could not afford medical bills, prescribed drugs and surgery.

He also urged members to support discharged patients who required rehabilitation, adding that the fellowship could combine its spiritual activities with practical assistance to people in need.

The anniversary marked four decades of the fellowship’s activities across health facilities under the Lagos State Health Service Commission.