Eket Development Congress USA (EDC) on Sunday concluded a free medical outreach to 1,978 less privileged people in Eket, Esit-Eket and neigbouring settlements in Akwa Ibom State.

Dr Umo Ntekim, National President of EDC, said at Ekpene Obo, venue of the mission, that the turn-out was overwhelming and impressive.

She said that EDC, a group of professionals residing in America, mobilised a medical team amongst its members and foreign volunteers to bring medical care to indigent patients from their mother land and give back to society.

According to her, the mission christened ‘Ekid Medical Mission 2018’ is the maiden edition conducted by the organisation in collaboration with Eket Development Union and local and foreign donours.

“The medical mission was a success and we enjoyed the support of Akwa Ibom Ministry of Health, community leaders in Eket and many donours and when we return to our base we shall think of how to sustain it.

“We had a lot of Americans in the team who came with us, they volunteered their expertise and worked with Nigerian medical professionals in the community to share experiences and build capacity as well.

“The team has medical experts across the board, from Nurses, Pharmacists, Physicians, Counsellors amongst others who worked tirelessly for a week to assist people who ordinarily could not afford medical service,” Ntekim said.

She explained that the group collaborated with Akwa Ibom Ministry of Health, which provided the community health care centre at Ekpene Obo and support staff to work with the visiting medical team.

According to Ntekim, the team also had health enlightenment sessions with the community aimed at equipping the people with knowledge to live healthier lives and modify their lifestyles to prevent ailments.

Dr Ini Adiakpan, a community leader in the area who gave the breakdown of the beneficiaries, said that 53 surgeries were conducted successfully while the patients are recovering.

She further explained that 1,050 out patients were treated of various health challenges while 75 dental cases were treated while 800 patients got attention from the pharmacy.

Adiakpan, who applauded the selfless efforts of EDC, noted that the mission took several weeks of planning including sensitisation, registration and classification of beneficiaries ahead the arrival of the team.

Magreth Itauma, a nurse in the visiting medical team, said that coming home to render services to her people was a fulfilling experience adding that they had lots of cases they could not handle.

“Coming home to assist less privileged members of our community gives us a lot of satisfaction, it is this community that we grew up so we in EDC came back to give our helping hands.

“We feel the pains of the people and we are burdened that we had to reschedule some cases which we could not handle within the one week the programme lasted.

“We have all pledged to come back next year to continue, gladly the cases were sorted out and the severer issues treated first,” Itauma said.

He applauded the beneficiaries for their orderly conduct as they took turns to receive care from the team despite the large crowd.

•Photo shows patients awaiting medical free attention at the EKID Medical Mission 2018 by Eket residents in USA at Ekpene Obo Health Centre, Esit Eket LGA of Akwa Ibom State on Sunday, March 18, 2018