Free Medical Care by Primus Hospital Abuja, Nigeria
About 100 widows from Jeba Local Government Area of Kaduna State and over 100 other less privileged women have been offered free medical care by Indian-owned Primus Super Specialty Hospital, Karu.
The women who were brought to the hospital by a Non-governmental Organisation (NGOs), Dowyornyi Widows Association and Abuja Market Women Association, were diagnosed and treated of various ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer among others.
Those whose condition required screening with machines like X-Ray and MRI, as well as surgery, were booked and referred to the relevant departments of the hospital for detailed investigations and action.
Drugs worth millions of naira were equally given free of charge to the beneficiaries. However, in some cases, patients were asked to pay a token for the drugs. All drugs were given at subsidised rates.
Speaking with newsmen in the hospital, spokeswoman of the Kaduna Women Association, Mrs Grace Ankuma, expressed satisfaction with the way the women were received and treated.
Ankuma was particularly excited by the kind of equipment she saw, saying she has never seen such in any hospital in Nigeria. The 40-year-old widow was hopeful that the treatment she received would heal her of the chest and waist pains, lamenting that the pains have affected her farming activities.
Also speaking, President of Abuja Market Women Association, Chief Felicia Sani, said over 100 women from her organisation participated in the screening exercise.
The famous women leader in Abuja, explained that the association grabbed the offer with both hands because market women hardly have time for their health.
She revealed that she has undergone a joint replacement at the New Delhi branch of the hospital and advised Nigerians to stop spreading falsehood about the hospital.
In his remarks, Mr. Nitin Dewan, Director of Administration of the hospital said the management decided to extend free medical treatment to widows because many of them can hardly afford their medical needs.
He said the gesture was part of the company’s corporate social responsibility to Nigerians with the aim of improving the health of the less privileged.
