700 benefit from Total's free medical service in Rivers

About 700 people from communities in Ogba/Egbema/Andoni Local Government Areas (ONELGA) of Rivers State are beneficiaries of the ongoing free medical services organised by oil giant, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG) Limited.About 3,000 people are expected to be the eventual beneficiaries as the five-day programme comes to an end today in Total's OML-58 host communities. In his speech at the day three of the event in Erema, on Wednesday, Deputy Managing Director of Total, Mr Nicolas Brunett, said it was a life-saving medical outreach programme for its OML-58 host communities in Rivers State.Brunett, who was represented by the Manager, Community Affairs Service, Mr Ikechukwu Obara, said the programme was facilitated by the Partners on Health Resources, a conglomerate of indigenous medical practitioners.'In TEPNG, healthcare is one of the core ingredients of our Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) culture because we share in the universal belief that healthy people make a wealthy nation,' he said.He said the free medical care outreach was among numerous health programmes such as Roll Back Malaria, cancer awareness, safe motherhood, First Aid training, basic maternity training for traditional birth attendants and many other preventive and curative healthcare for Total's host communities.'Undoubtedly, the project has helped a lot of individuals and families who cannot afford the exorbitant health care cost in our private clinics,' he said.Also speaking, the coordinator of Partners on Health Resources, Dr Akubuike Okara, said the conglomerate was mandated to deliver healthcare to the people.'In fulfilment of this mandate, we, therefore, put together a team of medical experts to ensure that optimum healthcare is given to our people in this five-day programme', he said.He also said over 3,000 people would have been treated by the end of the mission, noting that the 11 persons who tested positive to HIV had been enrolled in the health programme of Erema General Hospital.Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr Sampson Parker, applauded the oil giant for the free medical programme, saying it had helped in mopping up the gap in the healthcare needs of the people.Parker, who was represented by the Medical Health Officer, ONELGA, Dr Angus Ibe, said Total shared the same vision with the state government to take healthcare to all corners of the state.Chairman of ONELGA, Austin Ayiamadu, represented by a councillor from Ward 10, Opulo Obukam, thanked Total for the healthcare programme.Traditional ruler of Egi, Eze Kingdom Elenwa, also thanked Total, noting that the relationship between the oil giant and its host communities had been very cordial.
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