By Sani Gazas Chinade, Damaturu
The Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Yobe State has extended a lifeline cash support to 40 vulnerable patients at the Specialist Hospital as well as Women and Children Hospital in Damaturu with a view to assuaging their medication costs.
The gesture forms part of the chapel’s corporate social responsibility initiative to support vulnerable patients in the state respectively.
Speaking during the outreach, Chairman of the Chapel, Nabilu Balarabe noted that journalism is not just about holding the government accountable but also about touching the lives of the downtrodden.
According to him, the chapel deemed it necessary to embark on the community development project to support less privileged people as part of giving back to the society at large.
The chairman reaffirmed the commitment of the chapel to championing the cause of the less privileged, pledging to make the cash support outreach a quarterly project.
Malam Balarabe said about 40 patients benefited from the cash support in the two facilities, urging other associations, organizations and philanthropists to emulate the Correspondents Chapel by supporting vulnerable patients in the hospitals.
In their separate remarks, the Chief Medical Director of the Specialist Hospital Damaturu, Professor Usman Abba, represented by the Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr. Muhammad Aji and Dr. Babagana Alhaji Kolo, Principal Medical Officer in-charge of the Women and Children Hospital Damaturu, commended the Correspondents Chapel for practicalising what they report and commended the working synergy between the chapel and the hospital management.
According to them, the cash support is a life-changing initiative, adding that they further served as a crucial mental health boost for the sick.
They appealed to other unions and organisations to support the vulnerable patients, taking into cognizance the current economic realities, saying that the hospitals have categories of patients especially now that it is the peaked period for malaria and blood transfusion among others.
Some beneficiaries who spoke to our correspondent – Malama Halima Ibrahim, Amina Muhammad, Abubakar Musa and Bello Kawuwa said the intervention would go a long way in mitigating the medical expenses of patients as the economy bites harder.
