The Medical Director, Lakeshore Cancer Center, Oge Ilegbune, has said there is a need for inter-sectoral collaboration in the Nigerian health sector in order to provide free medical outreach to the public.

She disclosed this at the centre’s free medical outreach programme in Lagos State on Saturday.

Ilegbune explained that the aim of the medical outreach was to provide the public with free healthcare and other medical services at a reduced cost.

“People are hungry for information and lectures. We are using this fair to raise awareness. Importantly, we have got providers to join us in the spirit of collaboration and partnership. There is a need for people and organisations to come together to reach out to the public and improve the health sector.”

She noted that the death rate might be lowered if organisations collaborate to offer free medical outreach to the public.

“It is a crime for anyone to have uncontrolled blood pressure, and no one should die from stroke because of uncontrolled blood pressure, have a heart attack because of uncontrolled blood pressure, or have renal damage because of uncontrolled blood pressure.

“My advice is that it is good to come together to collaborate and to partner for the benefit of the public. Not everything is money. We should once in a while sit around and say what we can do jointly for the public,” she added.

Also speaking at the event, the Chief Business Officer,  Evercare, Kehinde Oyeshiku, stated that yearly physical examination was necessary for individuals to be free of non-communicable diseases.

“I think the most common illness Nigeria has will be malaria. There are also many non-communicable diseases, like hypertension and diabetes. The most important thing is to be diagnosed.

“Generally, I think we need to take our health a little bit more seriously. Our health is the most important thing; we only have one body and one life. There is a need for a proper annual checkup.”

An optometrist, Merry Gold, explained that glaucoma affects people of all ages and that a yearly eye examination should be performed at least once.

“Eye issues do not affect only the elderly; we also have something called congenital glaucoma, meaning that a child is actually born with glaucoma, so it cuts across all age groups. My advice is that people should always go for checkups to ensure they are fit.”

In her remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Seyi Absolute Wellness, Oluseyi Adebayo, urged the public to have a healthy diet in order to avoid incurring more medical costs.

“We need to embrace preventive medicine. You do not have to get to the edge of the problem before you voluntarily get to the hospital. If you get to that point, you will spend millions of naira. So it is better if you eat healthy before you get to that point,”she said.