Viano, Indian hospital offer free screening for cancer, others

It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for some Nigerians who made the most of it as they received free cancer and Urinary Tract Disease (UTD) screening and counseling from world renowned Urologists t and Oncologists from Narayana Hospitals, India.

The two-day health camp held at Fire House Apostolic Church, Ogba, Ikeja, was organised by Viano Nigeria Telemedicine Centre (VNTC), a Nigerian-registered medical tourism organisation whose main objective is to provide life-saving information, facilitate access to state of the art surgery facilities with hospitals within and outside Nigeria, as well as instant consultation with specialists around the world.

Patients from all over the metropolis trouped to the venue, got screened and were afforded the opportunity to interact with specialists not only in these two areas of health that is becoming pandemic and worrisome to human beings, but also general health.

Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer, VNTC, Atunuwa Onome-Eyanoviano said that it is part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), to give back to the immediate society and also help curb unnecessary death and pain that are associated with these diseases.

She said that complications and eventual death associated with diseases such as cancer comes from its late detection. She said: “We have come across a lot of people that died for no reason due to lack of testing and screening.

We brought in Urologist and Oncologist who are specialists with vast experience garnered in their so many years in the practice. “We believe that if people actually get tested on time, they won’t die. Cancer spreads every day.

For each minute the patient is alive, the disease spreads every second. But if it is detected on time and treated, it does not mean death. People abroad don’t die of the disease as such, they do die but it is only when it is an end-stage kind of thing.

“This is a free screening; we are giving people the opportunity to speak world-class doctors that people are paying thousands of dollars to talk to for free. We brought surgeons that are Fellows and lecturers in universities all around the world with many years of experience in these fields of medicine, especially in breast cancer. We have a doctor from Urology Department for men with erectile dysfunction. We have doctors for men and women.”

Onome-Eyanoviano revealed that the organisation also is planning to make provisions to offer medical treatments to people who may be diagnosed with any of the diseases and cannot afford the cost of the treatment. She noted that her company is striving to robe some big companies in the country into taking up treatment of these indigent people as part of their own contribution to the community.

“We are holding some of these blue-chip companies by the neck. What we do is that we write letters backing it up medical reports of those people, that these people need treatment; if it is abroad, if it is in the country, this is the cost of the treatment. And then, we send all the information to them and make them take responsibility of that one person’s life and help save it.

“And then, at the end of the day, we will appreciate them by creating awareness in the media in the form of appreciation because corporate organizations have to stand up and give back to the society. This is how we come in after they have been diagnosed,” she said.

The Senior Pastor of Fire House Apostolic Ministry, Rev. Daniel Udah whose church is a partner in the outreach disclosed that his church found it worthy to further the course of service to humanity, noting that that is what the church is supposed to be, a humanitarian/charity organisation reaching out to the people.

He pointed out that the enormous poverty pervading the country now makes it necessary for the privileged to come to the aid of those who cannot afford basic things of life, adding that the government cannot do it all alone.

He also disclosed that the church has plans to assist those diagnosed with the disease in their own little way while also calling out for more corporate organizations to be a blessing to such people in the society. Other partners include The Guardian Newspaper and Mansard Insurance.