U.S based medical outreach targets 5,000 Nigerians in 3 states -Coordinator
A U.S.-based medical outreach organisation, The Lifted Hands, says it targets no fewer than 5000 people across three states in Nigeria to benefit from its 2024 free medical outreach.
The coordinator of Lifted Hands, Mr. Moses Okaro, disclosed this in an interview with the newsmen on Friday in Lagos.
Okaro said that the Foundation had provided treatment for over 2000 patients in Anambra in 2023.
He said the 2024 medical outreach, which would kick off in Anambra, would be extended to Abia and Lagos State, respectively.
He stated that announcements on the 2024 event planned to kick off from July 17–20 in Anambra were presently ongoing.
“Our 2024 outreach will be extended to Abia and Lagos State this year. Anambra State will be visited again this year.
“From the Ogidi centre in Anambra, we will then move to Abia and from there to Lagos.
“The 2024 outreach will, most importantly, include eye surgeries and other medical care. We did not include such surgery in 2023 because we could not finalise arrangements for follow-ups.
“This year, we have been able to arrange with some hospitals and medical doctors in Nigeria that will conduct follow-up on patients,” he said.
According to him, Lifted Hands Inc. is an organisation that has a history of providing for the needs of people in Nigeria.
“We use over 20 doctors and 40 nurses during our missions. In 2023, our mission in Nigeria was very successful and met with a great response.
“We provided blood pressure, diabetes, and eye screenings and provided hundreds of people with prescription eyeglasses in addition to the screenings.
“We provided medications, clothes, foods, and health education. The people were given emotional support and information to help them live healthy lifestyles.
“After the mission, the medical professionals in Nigeria gathered the information needed for the treatment of patients and partnered with the American medical professionals to process several treatments for patients.
“Informations gathered were used to determine treatments for patients who had high blood sugar and blood pressure,” he said.
Okaro said that the outreach would be leading a team of medical professionals and other volunteers to Nigeria for the 2024 mission.
According to him, the 2024 mission aims to be bigger than the year before (2023), as it would be impacting more lives
“Our team will be providing basic medical care and medical education to hundreds of families in several impoverished villages.”
”In addition to what we did last year, we will also include eye surgeries, workout classes, food nutrition, and goal-setting.
“We also plan on bringing clothes, toiletries, and some back-to-school materials for the children, as they are also a big part of our foundation.”
“In the future, we will not only plan on eye surgeries but will also provide proper health education on cleanliness, environmental sanitation, and water filtering processes for safe water drinking.
“We will also work towards providing prenatal and antinatal care to women to help increase the child mortality rate in Nigeria,” he added.
Okaro, however, urged well-to-do Nigerians to endeavour to help the needy in the country and not to leave everything to the government.
He said, “There is no gain targeted by this mission. Our aim is to give and continue to give to as many people as possible.
“Therefore, anyone willing to be part of the mission in whatever way, either volunteering or donating, will be accepted.”.
