Jacob BABALOLA (Staff Writer)

The Confraternity of Christian Mothers, Church of the Ascension Parish, Bodija, Ibadan has ushered in the New Liturgical Year A in the Catholic Calendar with a Free Medical Outreach (FMO), during which not less than one hundred and nineteen (119) persons, young and adult, benefitted.

The FMO which covers Visual screening & Free eye glasses; Cervical screening; Breast screening; Dental care; Diabetes check-up; Hypertension check-up/free drugs; Malaria check-up/free drugs and Health talks took place at the Church of the Ascension Catholic Church Premises, immediately after the 9am Mass; officiated by the Assistant Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Peace Jemibor; who also declared the event opened with an opening prayer, on behalf of the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Francis Awotoye.

Health talks were given simultaneously as registration of beneficiaries and the various screening were ongoing.

Dr. Oyewole Anuoluwapo; Olumide Olanike Adewuyi (Deputy Director of Nursing, Public Health, UCH; Dr. Chucks Asika and Dr. Anichukwu Festus gave health talks on Diabetes & hypertension; Cervical Cancer; Oral/Dental Health and Visual Health respectively.

Dr. Anuoluwapo explained that diabetes is not only a matter of taking too much sugar because whatever goes into our mouth is processed into glucose, that is, sugar and is being converted by insulin into usable energy. According to her, it is when the insulin is not producing or producing a little that it leads to diabetes. She gave the types of diabetes, signs and symptoms and also suggested what to consume and in what quantity as well as what to avoid, saying moderation is the key word.

On Cervical Cancer, the Guest Speaker, Olumide Adewuyi described this as second cause of death as it takes at least 10 years before causing harm. Cancer, she added can occur in any part of the body and can also spread to other parts of the body; hence, there is need to go for cervical cancer screening often. She warned against multiple sexual partners, need to visit hospital for drugs (instead of collecting from a friend); desist from using fingers to remove dirt from private part, reducing stress by resting; sleeping 6-8 hours at night and refraining from spending night browsing, especially, the young ones.

Dr. Chucks Asika tutored the beneficiaries on the types of brush and the best among them (medium type), how frequent to brush, changing of brush every 3 months and techniques of brushing. He also advised using a toothpaste that contains fluoride, rinsing of mouth once after brushing and the need to go for scaling & polishing.

Dr. Festus on his part took the beneficiaries on the need to keep their eyes healthy by avoiding self-medication, going to the right Doctor, going for eye check-up at least once in a year and the need to eat a balanced diet.

The President of the Confraternity of Christian Mother, Mrs Carol Osemeka in an interview with the Catholic Weekly Independent thanked God for the success of the FMO and also appreciated all the Medical Personnel, who agreed to render their services at no cost when the society approached them. When asked why free medical outreach? Considering the fact that a similar event organized in the past by the society empowered widows with different equipment to help the widows earn a living; she explained that it is as the spirit directs and also based on the fact that it was observed that people hardly go for medical check-up, including herself. She promised that God being on the side of the society, CCM will continue to give back to the society as part of its Corporal Work of Mercy.

Mrs Osemeka’s response seems to be in line with the homily delivered by Rev. Simon Pierie, SMA who at the First Sunday of the Advent urged Catholic faithful to always live their Christian identity everywhere, every day as the Church begins a new liturgical Year A. The Deacon noted that the readings for the first Sunday of Advent call all to be vigilant and that the only way to do that is to be truthful to oneself and not practicing Christianity during the day and doing something else during the night, because people would not see us.

The beneficiaries of the FMO were full of joy and appreciative of the efforts of the Confraternity of Christian Mothers in the parish, as everyone waited patiently to take his or her turn throughout the exercise and went home happier than they came.