The government of Oyo State has revealed how 105 hernia patients were operated during the just concluded free medical outreach the state organised to mark Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s six years in office.
Making the disclosure, the state’s commissioner for health, Dr Azeez Adeduntan, said that the state has attended to over 5,500 patients and carried out 407 operations on different conditions, including hernia.
According to Adeduntan, 60 per cent of the surgical operations were due to hernia, 20 per cent due to hydrocele in children and the others myriads, including lumps in different parts of the body.
He explained that hydrocele occurs when there is a collection of fluid inside the scrotum. This causes one or both the testicles to look larger than the other. This swelling may be unsightly and uncomfortable, but it is usually not painful and generally not dangerous.
However, it might be associated with an underlying testicular condition that can cause serious complications, including: infection or tumour.
The exercises, which recorded 105 hernia surgeries done in Oke Ogun 1 local government areas of Iseyin, Itesiwaju, Kajola and Iwajowa and the highest in number, also treated more cases of hypertension than any medical problem. This was followed closely by diabetes.
Other medical conditions, the outreach attended to included malaria, typhoid fever, pneumonia and sickle cell disease.
He said the government’s free medical and surgical outreach was to provide succour for citizens in the state, adding, “if we are saying people should not patronise quacks because they do not have money or do not know where to go, we should give alternatives.”
Dr Adeduntan, who reiterated that health, was cardinal to Governor Ajimobi’s administration, assured that the free medical and surgical exercises was to be carried out every quarter of the year, adding that the next one is slated for August, 2017.
He, however, advised that individuals regularly check their blood pressure and sugar levels, saying facilities to monitor blood pressure is free in all public hospitals in the state.
The Commissioner, who said even government workers could have their blood pressure checked at the State Ministry of Health, warned that uncontrolled blood pressure, leading to heart attack, remains the commonest cause of sudden death in Nigeria.
He also called on individuals to buy into the state government’s health insurance scheme, saying by enrolling at N680 monthly, when they are sick, they can access free healthcare.
According to him, “the hospital is not only for sick people. Individuals can walk in for body checks. Our body is like a car; it does not need to break down before you go and service it.
“If you want it to function well, you need to treat it well from time to time by going for medical checkups at least every six months.
Dr Adeduntan, however, assures that under the health insurance scheme, pregnant women and children below five years of age will be treated free.
Additional report: Nigerian Tribune
