60 CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM LAGOS’ FREE LIMB DEFORMITY CORRECTIVE SURGERY PROGRAMME

… As Lagos Targets 1000 Beneficiaries 

No fewer than 60 people, mainly children have benefited from the Lagos State Government-sponsored Free Limb Deformity Corrective Surgery and Rehabilitation Programme, an intervention targeted at the treatment and rehabilitation of people especially children with lower limb deformities.

Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, who disclosed this today when he visited the latest beneficiaries of the surgical intervention exercise at the Gbagada General Hospital, stated that the 60 beneficiaries were amongst the 213 potential beneficiaries that were earlier screened in the latest phase of the exercise.

“The Limb Deformity Corrective Surgery Programme (LDCSP) started in 2007 as a medical assistance program for children with lower limb deformities that affect normal growth and function in children. It has since evolved into a multidisciplinary surgical outreach programme that has reached more than 6,000 beneficiaries since its inception”, he said.

According to him, the Lagos State Government instituted the intervention programme to alleviate the suffering of children with limb deformities, improve their self-esteem and offer them a chance to compete and function normally in society.

Ogboye explained further that the latest phase of the programme commenced with a screening exercise of potential beneficiaries at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), adding that the result of the screening which was reviewed by a team of specialists resulted in the latest set of 60 beneficiaries who qualified and were subsequently booked for the surgical procedure.

The Permanent Secretary averred that other potential beneficiaries who came for the screening exercise also benefited from physiotherapy, nutrition counselling and support, health education as well as assistive mobility devices that will improve their health outcome.

Ogboye noted that the surgical intervention programme has over the years led to improved health outcomes to beneficiaries, adding that the latest phase of the exercise has once again demonstrated the commitment of the present administration to fulfilling its Health and Environment mandate of the T.H.E.M.E.S. Plus agenda.

Speaking in the same vein, the Coordinator of the Programme, Dr. Tolulope Ajomale stated that the programme is specifically designed for people who can not afford the cost of surgery, adding that the State Government is tirelessly working to ensure that people get access to quality and affordable healthcare care delivery.

Dr. Ajomale appreciated the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for providing the needed support in the successful implementation of the surgical intervention programme, noting that the state is currently working towards the target of about 1000 free surgeries for beneficiaries within the next couple of years.

He noted that the surgical intervention allows the State Government to generate data to create other targeted Disability-Intervention Strategies to help more people that may have been disadvantaged, healthwise, in one way or another. 

Ajomale added that the 60 beneficiaries, after being discharged, will be asked to come for follow-up visits at the clinic, and also go through physiotherapy to ensure the best outcomes. 

Mr. Lasisi Sulieman, whose son benefitted from the intervention, thanked the Lagos State Government for giving his son the opportunity to benefit from the free surgical intervention. He explained that his son has been suffering from pains resulting from the deformed limb from birth.

Suleiman explained further that he has taken his son to various health facilities for treatment for several years but could not afford the cost of surgery before he finally came to know of the State Government free limb deformity corrective surgery, which was carried out on his son free of charge.