By Ishaya Ibrahim
In the 30 years that the General Hospital in Ugep, a community in the Yakurr area of Cross River State was established, last December 14 and 15 appeared to be its busiest.
Word had reached people in surrounding communities, including Mkpani, Idomi, Ekori, Inyima, Nko, Assiga, Agoi Ibami, Agoi Ekpo, and Agoi Efreke that the General Hospital would be the venue of a free medical treatment for all kinds of conditions afflicting them. Cases requiring surgeries would also be free, including drugs. Theirs was only to show up at the facility to receive the free care.
The sponsor of the outreach, Dr Joseph Tarkon, a Nigerian-born, American-based doctor and presiding pastor of the City of David Parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), in Atlanta, Georgia, mobilized professional healthcare workers, including doctors, pharmacists and nurses from the United States, and other parts of Nigeria to Ugep for the mass healthcare project.
On the first day of the medical outreach, Dr Tarkon and members of his team paid a courtesy visit to the palace of Obol Lopon of Ugep, His Royal Majesty Obol Ofem Eteng Ubana.
Dr Tarkon also seized the opportunity of the visit to extend the free medical care to the king and his households. The king, who was the first to benefit from the medical outreach, was overjoyed. He said: “So, I’m happy to have you here. I am happy and exceedingly excited for the great things you have come to do for my community.”
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The outreach commenced
On day one of the outreach, registration commenced by 6am with cards and numbers assigned to the hundreds of patients.
Damilola Kushimo, the project manager, ensured the seamless management of materials and personnel, workflow and provision of logistics which made the exercise a success.
Dr John Emmanuel, who flew from Atlanta, USA for the medical outreach, coordinated the general medical consultation workflow, handled complaints and other challenges of patients.
By about 10am, the medical outreach commenced with health education facilitated by Dr Tarkon, and the Medical Director of Orile General Hospital in Lagos, Dr Adesola Pitan. The two experienced doctors took turns in counselling the people on health friendly dietary and social habits, self-examination of their bodies in mitigating cases of cancer, high blood pressure and other conditions.
At about 11am, doctors started seeing patients, recommending free exams which were carried out at the hospital laboratory before prescribing drugs.
53 surgeries all successful
Those requiring surgeries were directed to the surgical unit headed by the Medical Superintendent of Ugep General Hospital, Dr Inyang Ediva, who carried out surgical interventions on cases including herniorrhaphy, appendectomy and others. In all, 53 surgical interventions were successfully carried out.
Medical consultations
Dr Eric Mabo and his wife, Dr Rosemary Mabo, came from the USA to support the outreach. The duo, like dozens other doctors on call, saw patients from 11am to 5pm without breaking for rest on day one. It was the same routine on day two until the last person was attended to.
Dr Eric Mabo said of his experience when asked to compare it with his normal schedule as a doctor in the United States. He said: “On a very busy day in the United States, I see maybe 20, 25 patients. For this outreach, I didn’t keep track. There’s a lot of people. Once we sat down, we never got up.”
On the kind of cases he mostly dealt with, he said: “I saw a lot of people with ulcer, abdominal pain, a lot of people with back pain, back issues, arthritis. I saw a lot of really sick people. I saw a lot of people with malaria and typhoid.”
When asked what lifestyle advice he would offer so that people seldom fall sick, he said: “May be reduce the amount of pepper you eat,” general laughter followed the comment.
He added: “And most of them did not like it when I said that.”
His wife, Dr Rosemary Mabo estimated seeing about 75 patients on the first day of the outreach, many of whom she said were diagnosed with Arthritis, peptic ulcer. She, however, said hypertension was at the top.
She particularly expressed worry over the prevalence of hypertension and its poor management by people suffering from it. She recommended routine education for those suffering from it, as she noted that most of them abandon use of their medication once it finishes.
She said: “They need somebody who can may be once in three months, offer high blood pressure advice to patients because it looks like each time they finish their medication, they don’t remember that they have to keep on taking it. They believe that if their medication is finished, the disease is gone.”
Pharmacy dispense drugs with speed and precision
At the pharmacy unit, Pharm. Charly Ikpi Udumo, the Head Pharmacist at the General Hospital, Ugep, coordinated the affairs there along with other others. Drugs were dispensed to everyone who showed at the Pharmacy with duly signed prescription. The crowd was huge, but the expertise of the crew ensured that no one was left behind.
Records at the pharmacy show 420 persons received medication.
Doctor Tarkon donated the unexhausted drugs to Ugep General Hospital.
Beneficiaries express gratitude
Comfort Egu came to the hospital to complain of waist, leg and stomach pains. She got all the drugs prescribed to her except one, she said.
“My mind told me that I will be well through this drugs and I know that God will heal me,” she told our reporter.
Another beneficiary, Itan Benjamin from Ugep came with her child to complain sick. “I came to complain of malaria. For my baby, there was a swollen around his penis area. I was about going to chemist when I learned of this free medical outreach. I am very happy because we got all the drugs prescribed for us, except one,” she said.
For Christiana Bassey, a resident of Ugep, her complained were arthritis and typhoid. “I’m very lucky. I got all the drugs free. The one that wasn’t there, they gave me the equivalent,” she said.
Iko Usani Ubi, said his complain was body itching and tremor. He said he got all the prescribed drugs.
Bassey Ibor said he came for malaria, asthma and weakness of the body. He said only inhaler was absent among the drugs given to him.
Adia Ubana complained about difficulty in walking. She said: “I feel happy because I have spent money too much. I believe that with this, I will be healed in Jesus name.”
For 75-year-old Maggi Eko Etien from Ekori, a neighboring town which cost her N500 on a motorcycle ride to Ugep, her complained were Typhoid, Malaria and high blood pressure. She said she received all the drugs prescribed to her.
Why the medical outreach
Dr Tarkon, a doctor and pastor, was influenced by a number of circumstances growing up. He was born a twin in one of the communities impacted by the work of Presbyterian missionary, Mary Slessor, who stopped the killing of kids who came in that mode. He also grew up in an environment with missionary hospitals that offered free care to sick people. As a Christian, he is convinced that he would be shirking in his responsibility if he did not offer the same kind of help which the missionaries brought to Africa.
He said: “I couldn’t have survived if not for the effort of Mary Slessor who came and live in this part of the world. That’s how I survived. For me, as a Christian, I said that today we cannot be Christians who have benefitted from missionary endeavours and we don’t do anything to help our people the way others helped us. They sacrificed their lives, they lived here and they died here. Those of us who have grown here, who have the benefit of a good education and exposure, the least we can do is to give back to our people.”
On whether his expectations were met with the outreach, he said: “I saw a patient who has excruciating Pelvic inflammatory disease and we are doing the needful for her. And I just saw another patient whose blood pressure is over 200 by 123. She is 75 years old. A woman like that can just slump and die at any point in time. And we are providing her with care. To me, my expectations are being met and exceeded.”
How it was organized
The mission of Dr Tarkon to Ugep was coordinated by Pastor Ben Arikpo, who explained how they mobilized people since the community neither has local radio nor television broadcast, except for DSTV which is far beyond the reach of ordinary folks.
He said: “We decided to use local medium. We mobilized people using Okada, using their legs, using town criers to reach the people. So, in various communities, we went on their market days,” he said.
The medical outreach was rounded off with a two days crusade tagged “Jesus Heals.”
Pst Arikpo said the aim was to lift the name of Jesus.
For those who got treated of various medical conditions, it was a good aim.
