More than 350 residents of Opolo community in Bayelsa state have so far benefitted from the ongoing three day free health service by the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).

Speaking at the flag-off ceremony at Opolo Community Healthcentre, the General Manager, External Relations, SPDC, Mr. Igo Weli, said that the oil firm had reached some 640,000 people across 50 communities in the Niger Delta region since the free health scheme kicked off in 2010.

Weli, who was represented by Community Interface Coordinator at SPDC’s Central Health Hub, Mr. Olayiwola Wakeel, regretted that access to quality healthcare was being limited by cost and hence the decision of the oil firm to intervene in the Health in Motion programme.

He explained that the oil firm engaged in the scheme in collaboration with the Bayelsa Ministry of Health and the Yenagoa Local Government Area.

He noted that the Opolo community which hosts SPDC’s oil wells and facilities had supported the operations of the oil firm and hence the gesture to residents of the area in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Hundreds of residents who turned up for the health programme received consultation from a medical team comprising general physicians, ophthalmologists, dentists and pharmacists.

The medical team also had a health awareness session as well as breast and cervical cancer screening sessions for the female folks.

A community leader in Opolo, Chief Boniface Odede, who benefitted from the scheme applauded SPDC for the gesture and appealed to them to ensure that everyone who turned up for the programme was given attention.

He observed that the large crowd at the health facility was an indication that most people in the area could not afford medical services.

Another beneficiary Mrs. Gloria Iloanusi said that she was pleased at the development and she brought her baby for immunisation and seized the opportunity to get treatment for malaria and got an insecticide treated net.

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