Doctoz, a United Kingdom based health organisation has offered free medical services to over 300 widows and orphans in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Dr Chidi Umeokoli, the Medical Officer of the organisation, during the exercise in Abuja said that the benefitting widows and orphans were selected from all the satellite towns in FCT.
Umeokoli said that the organisation had the passion in providing medical outreach and health facilities to the less privileged people especially at the rural areas.
“This is just a call to humanity and we are trying to reach out to the widows and orphans, basically the satellite towns because this people find it difficult to access proper healthcare.
“We are trying to do more of preventive medicines here as the saying goes ‘prevention is better than cure’, and you can see the medical personnel are checking their blood pressure, vital signs and others.
“We know what it takes to pay for medical treatment in some families and I know what the people in the rural communities are facing especially at this hard time.
“Many people have died because they could not afford to pay for their treatment; that is why we took it upon ourselves to assist the rural communities,” he said.
He, however, called on the beneficiaries to always take their health issues seriously by always going for regular medical check-up and treatment.
Also, Mr Ocholi Ogwu, the organisation’s Administrator, said they would continue with the gesture and urged other stakeholders to do same within their domains.
Ocholi said the organisation also provides digital health services where patients could meet their doctors for online consultations from the comfort of their homes.
He said with the coming of COVID-19, there was so much emphasis on reducing the number of persons gathering in a particular place.
“This package we are giving to the widows and orphans in this foundation is that they will have the ability to pick up a Doctoz sponsorship card that will give them access to free healthcare services.
“The Doctoz App is a mobile application that helps patients access swift professional medical care and the users order for medical care and it is delivered to their place of convenience.
“The Doctoz app is available on Google store and an IOS version and both patients and practitioners can register for free on the app and will be required to create a profile.
“On the app, a patient can search through the services available and choose their immediate need and a click will reveal the healthcare providers on the service and they can make their choice of who to consult.
“We will continue to render free medical services, especially to people at the rural areas as long as we have the means to do so,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Victoria Ayalomhe, who could not hide her joy, expressed gratitude to the organisation for the kind gesture.
Mrs Salamatu Binta, another beneficiary thanked the organisation for the free medical outreach and called on other healthcare service providers to do same. (NAN)