Milecent Foundation launched a free medical outreach on 7th May, 2022, under the hashtag #Zeromalaria, at Ladegboye Community, Ikorodu, Lagos State.
The foundation, which was founded in 2018, has organised donations for individuals and groups, provided free medical services, and promoted sex education in schools, communities, radio stations, and talk shows.
According to the foundation, their #ZeroMalaria outreach remains a continuation of the foundation’s commitment to encourage good health locally, giving a peculiar interest to the country’s steady rise in malaria cases.
“Malaria is one of Africa’s leading causes of death, that is enough concern. A child under the age of five is killed by malaria every two minutes according to WHO. Many of these deaths may be avoided or treated if they were caught early,” said Okolo Ikechukwu, founder, Milecent Foundation in an interview with theafricandream.net.
“For this reason, we made sure our #ZeroMalaria free medical outreach made a significant impact, to show that we are committed to a zero malaria move for rural communities in Nigeria.”
The outreach was powered by Ishk Tolaram Foundation, and supported by Ikorodu Division Youth Initiative, Heartland Initiative, and Hope for Women Alive Initiative.
According to Ikechukwu, the foundation’s medical team stood at the centre of the outreach, making the programme a big success with their volunteering, he gave a “thumbs up to active members and medical team that made this happen.”
He also extended appreciation to sponsors and supporters of the outreach. According to him, rural communities require the most medical attention because of the standard of living in such areas.
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Following the outreach, Ikechukwu noted that similar events on a national scale are feasible, he believes the foundation’s “new-found interest is to make medical check-ups a culture in Nigeria and keep improving the general healthy living of everyone in rural communities,” hopefully with support from like minded individuals and organisations.
“I believe if we all take a stand, the rural communities can also benefit from standard healthcare,” he said to theafricandream.net, calling for more support and sponsorship.
Over time, the organisation has centred its humanitarian efforts on enhancing people’s and communities’ well-being, particularly in the areas of sex, health, and lifestyle.
Earlier this year, the foundation also launched a 10-month campaign against teenage pregnancy expected to run from February through November 2022. The campaign is tagged “The Story of Sex & You,” focused on teenagers in Nigeria.
It will cover over 20 schools, with “hopes that it make impact over 10,000 teenagers this year,” says Ikechukwu.
When asked about his motivation for the foundation in an exclusive interview with theafricandream.net last month, Ikechukwu said,
“A better Africa and my love for humanity is my inspiration. I am creating solutions to problems around my community, giving my own quota to make Africa a better continent.”
Source: Arakunrin Lekan | theafricandream.net
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
