• If within our powers, we’ll chase out other IOCs -Community Leader

By Egufe Yafugborhi

PORT HARCOURT – TEEMING indigent patients from far and near with varied health conditions continue to crowd the Erema General Hospital, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, Rivers state to gain intensive medicare as TotalEnergies 2022 Mass Free Health runs in Egiland.

Though intended for a target 3500 beneficiaries within TotalEnergies Oil Mining Lease (OML) 58 host communities, the facilitating Medical Team, Marnifield Allied Services, confirmed that the massive turnout of patients include persons from across Rivers and those from Bayelsa, Delta, Imo and other neighboring states.

As the weeklong health charity entered day three Wednesday, Leader of the facilitating health team, Dr. Akubuike Okara, said this year exercise was witnessing partnership from the Institute of Human Virology of Nigeria to provide mass Tuberculosis screening of the participants with those found positive to be enrolled for free treatment.

Okara said, “We envisage huge positive impact of this year’s programme on the health and economy of the beneficiaries and their families especially those who will benefit from the reading glass dispensing, surgery, healthcare counselling and referral.

“In the past two and half days, the NNPC/TEPNG Mass Free Health has attended to 1063 peraons, 98 of who have been identified for surgery while 42 have already been operated on. Over 310 patients had eye screening for reading glasses and 99 given medications for various eye conditions. By end of this mission, over 3,500 persons would have been treated.”

From Akabuka community, Mauche Elonu, a beneficiary who had a free surgery for herniorrhaphy which would have cost him minimum N150,000 in a standard hospital attested that, “This has been a life saving opportunity. I couldn’t imagine how I would have been able to pay the bills for this surgery.”

TotalEnergies Manager, Capacity Development, Jacob Ologe, noted, “The statistics have been quite impressive. At the projected 3500 beneficiaries, that is quality treatment for around 54 patients per day for throughout the year. That’s nice one and part of the impact we are delivering which goes a long way to improve health in our communities.”

Chibuike Omah, Secretary, Egi Joint Community Development Committee (CDC), said the “The host communities were appreciative that in spite of the economic downturn, TotalEnergies remains very responsive to her Corporate Social Responsibility of improving lives in Egi.

“Egi is host to three IOCs, but the approach of TotalEnergies to CSR has been much more welcoming than the others. If it were within us to ask Shell and Nigeria Agip Oil Company to leave, we would have done that. Today, with TotalEnergies, those in the state of penury have been saved from the risk of living with sicknesses they could not have paid for their treatment.”