UUTH medical doctors supply free healthcare to youngsters with disabilities
From Chioma Onuegbu, Etoi
Last week, the path for children with disabilities came at the Etoi Municipality Special Education Center in the Uyo region of Akwa Ibom State when the Uyo University Resident Doctors Association, UUTH Teaching Hospital, used free health services for them.
Speaking to NDV, the association’s president, Dr. Paul Walshak said the school was selected as part of activities to celebrate its annual general meeting because it wanted to provide added value to children with special needs and disabilities.
“We decided to come here through our ‘T-DROP’ program because we are dealing with children with disabilities. Some are deaf and dumb; Some are born with congenital disorders. Living with a disability is a major challenge in our society.
“We will also select those with hearing impairments and take them to the teaching hospital for an audiometric test. Those who qualify to use hearing aids will make arrangements to get the hearing aids for them. And we noticed that there are some unmet needs here, particularly in the areas of study materials, medication, feeding, and clothing. “
Similarly, the chairman of the planning committee of the general meeting, Dr. Emem Peters, who said he discovered the school in the process of planning the event, announced that he was able to begin public relations by self-hiring and getting support from a few nonprofits, some government officials.
Peters, who is also UUTH’s Senior Registrar Community Health Department, added, “We plan to attend this school regularly as there are so many unmet needs. And these are children who need special care. So we have to pursue them, because we want to maintain this partnership. “
The center’s director, who is also the director of Akwa Ibom’s State Ministry of Education, Ms. Esther Emmanuel Unung, said she was delighted with the effort and said it would complement what the state government is doing to ensure the children at the center have a good life Health care received services.
“I am excited and happy about what happened today. They came here a week ago to see what they can do to help the children and today they really came. We have over 150 children living on the premises and there isn’t a week that I don’t go to the hospital for them. Those who are epileptic are always resuscitated by us because we have a school doctor and nurses. Some have appendicitis, some have hernia, and malaria. In a day, around 10-15 of the children can have malaria.
“And we found that their parents don’t really care about them because they think they have no future. They don’t give them drugs, when they come to school they get sick. That is why we ourselves take them to hospital many times with government assistance.
I have cause for joy today and my heart is full of joy to see the general practitioners come to give these children medication and diagnose some of the diseases they have, ”she said.
Vanguard News Nigeria
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