The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), FCT chapter, has provided free medical services to underserved residents of Kpaduma 2, Guzape, Abuja, including screening for hypertension, diabetes, HIV and hepatitis.
The outreach was held on Thursday as part of activities marking the 2026 NMA-FCT Physicians’ Week.
Other services included eye examinations, ear syringing and deworming for children. Patients requiring specialised care were identified and referred to appropriate health facilities.
Dr George Ebong, Chairman of NMA-FCT, said the initiative aimed to reach people who could not easily afford or access hospital services.
“We also try to make sure that we take medicine out of the institution and help the people that do not have access to medical care in the hospital,” he said.
Ebong said some residents were found to have high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar levels without knowing their health status.
He said the association was helping affected patients access medication, register for follow-up care and obtain referrals where necessary.
“We try to identify them, put them on medications, register them,” he said.
Ebong added that the association was working with relevant stakeholders to enrol beneficiaries in health insurance schemes and improve their access to ongoing care.
He said patients with cataracts and other conditions requiring surgery would be assisted with referrals and financial support where possible.
The chairman said the association planned to extend the outreach to other communities and work with partners to sustain the initiative.
Also speaking, Dr Chigozie Omeke, Vice Chairman of NMA-FCT and Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the Physicians’ Week, said the outreach targeted people who could not afford healthcare or lacked access to suitable facilities.
“The target is that percentage of the general population who cannot easily access standard healthcare, either for unavailability of such facility or unavailability of fund,” he said.
Omeke said a community survey informed the choice of venue, noting that low-income residents also lived in and around affluent neighbourhoods.
“Even in the neighbourhood of this high-brow area, there are still pockets of people and communities who are more or less in dire need of healthcare,” he said.
He said patients whose conditions could not be managed at the outreach would be referred to secondary or tertiary health facilities for further treatment.
Samson Auta, the traditional leader of the host community, commended the association for bringing medical services closer to residents.
Auta said the cost of hospital consultations, investigations and treatment prevented many residents from seeking medical care.
He urged the association to sustain the initiative, suggesting future outreaches could last two days or be held quarterly to reach more people.
