About 700 residents of Zaria have benefitted from the annual medical outreach organised by the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA).
Speaking during this year’s outreach which took place at Dutsen Abba, a suburb of the ancient city, the state Secretary of NMA, Dr. A’isha Mustapha, said aside the free medical consultation and drugs offered to the beneficiaries, the association also engaged in public enlightenment and sensitisation.
Dr. Mustapha explained that treatment of ailments was an aspect of this year’s programme, but said the team had engaged in health sensitisation, especially on issues of cancer and other killer diseases.
She further said, “The sensitisation included letting the public know the dangers that quack doctors pose to their existence. It is not everybody that is a medical doctor. People need to patronise only qualified medical professionals for their healthcare as we have proliferation of people claiming to be medical practitioners.”
She further said they had sampled the various problems of the beneficiaries, adding that, “Among us are technicians, surgeons, dentists and other professionals. This is for the beneficiaries to have specialists to attend to their problems. We have also come with laboratory support and drugs. For those that we cannot address their problems, we are going to refer them to get the best care facilities.