NYSC medical outreach handled 2m indigent rural dwellers nationwide, says DG

The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim, has said that two million indigent rural dwellers across the country had benefited from the scheme’s Health Initiative for Rural Duellers (HIRD) programme since 2014.

Ibrahim, who stated this at the launch of the 2021 HIRD in Dazigau community, Nangere Local Government Area of Yobe on Wednesday, added that the scheme was determined to deepen the impact of its healthcare services.

Represented at the occasion by Mr Enock Isau, the NYSC helmsman recalled that the management launched the NYSC HIRD in 2014, as a platform for contribution towards promoting the well-being of indigent persons at the grassroots, by granting them easier access to free and quality healthcare.

“Drugs, eye glasses and other medical consumables are also given to patients free of charge,” he added.

Ibrahim announced that the 2021 centrally coordinated medical outreach was taking place simultaneously in all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory and would last for one week.

Launching the 2021 HIRD, Mrs Hafsat Yerima, the Yobe state NYSC coordinator, disclosed that 50 medical corps personnel had been deployed to various rural communities in the state, to provide them with free diagnosis, treatment and referrals.

She said the personnel included doctors, dental surgeons, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, nurses and physiotherapists, who would render services to over 3,000 rural dwellers through the initiative.

“The NYSC wishes to bring medical care as close as possible to all citizens of Nigeria who are in the rural areas, in line with the saying that health is wealth.

“The scheme will always do everything possible to ensure that rural dwellers are availed the best of medical services, irrespective of their locations.

“At this juncture, it is pertinent to mention that this health outreach will be taking place in Dazigau community in Yobe State for the next four days.

“We shall do this with the support of some of our stakeholders who are either assisting us with their personnel or providing material support in the area of drugs and medical equipment,” she said.

The Secretary of Nangere Local Government Council, Alhaji Umar Audu, thanked the scheme for the support to his people.