The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Osun State on Tuesday organized free medical treatment for rural dwellers in the state to mark it’s health week programme.
The Director General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Sule Zakari Kazaure explained that the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers (HIRD) was designed to cater for the health of the downtrodden.
Kazaure was represented by the coordinator of NYSC in Osun State Mrs Regina Iluebbey during the free medical treatment at Sekona Community.
The people of Sekona who thronged the venue of the free medical treatment commended the NYSC for bringing health care delivery to them.
The NYSC DG said the free medical outreach which was conceived two years ago has achieved it’s goal and saved many lives.
According to him, "the NYSC, in the past 43 years, has not relented in pursuing it’s mandate and making meaningful impacts on the lives of people in the different communities across the nation."
"Against this backdrop, the goal of the Health Initiative for Rural Dwellers is to mobilise corps medical volunteers to provide health interventions through diagnosis, treatment, referrals and proper preventive mechanism, thereby enhancing the general well-being of rural dwellers across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria", he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Osun State Governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola described the free health initiative as a landmark achievement in the history of NYSC in the area of offering selfless service and serving as a unifying factor among the citizenry.
Aregbesola who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the state ministry of health, Akinyinka Esho commended NYSC for the initiative.
The governor said "It is no gainsaying that the increasing awareness of the potency of orthodox medicine and the attendant increase in the demand for it has made government health facilities become inadequate".
He commended the people of Sekona for trooping the venue of the free medical treatment and urged them to be conscious of their health and strive to stay healthy.
