The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kwara  State chapter, on Wednesday, offered free medical outreach to over 400 students and 70 teachers of the Kwara School for Special Needs, Ilorin.

The outreach is part of activities marking the 2026 Physicians’ Week, with the theme “Securing the Future of Medicine in Nigeria.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the outreach, Kwara NMA Chairman, Suleiman Rotimi, said the charity day was part of the association’s way of giving back to society.

Mr Rotimi said the association donated food and sanitary items to the school in addition to the medical outreach.

“What we are doing today is totally free for the members of staff and the students of this school and it’s part of our activities marking this year’s Physicians’ Week.

“Apart from the members of staff, we are also conducting the same for the students who have one or two challenges to see how we can help.

“We have come with specialists; the ophthalmologists are here and the ENT surgeons are also here,” he said.

Mr Rotimi assured that the association would return for a larger outreach, noting that Kwara would host the National Physicians’ Week in 2027.

Also speaking, the Vice-Chairman of NMA and Chairman of Physicians’ Week 2026, Salihu Olaitan, explained that “the charity outreach is a major highlight of the week.

“We have more than 400 students in this school and over 70 teachers and we are hoping to conduct health checks for all of them,” he said.

Mr Olaitan said the outreach included screening for hypertension and diabetes, ear, nose and throat (ENT) examinations and ophthalmological screening for eyes.

He added that the association also donated drugs to the school clinic and food items to students in the hostel as part of giving back to the community.

“This is a way of NMA giving back to the community by also improving the health of the citizens,” he said.

The principal of the school, Rashida Kayode, commended NMA for conducting the free medical outreach.

She described it as a long-awaited intervention that would have addressed the real needs of the school community.

“It is such a wonderful day for us because this is what we have been expecting for long,” she said.

The principal said staff and students hardly have time for routine medical checks due to the demands of running the school.

Ms Kayode commended the association for also donating items to the school in spite of the medical outreach.

She urged other medical groups to emulate the NMA by including the school in their social responsibility programmes.

“What we need from society is empathy. Let them have our feelings that these people too are human beings and they never chose to be like this,” she said.

Ms Kayode said neglecting the health needs of persons with special needs amounted to denying them their rights.

Some of the items donated are bags of rice, vegetable oil, yam, beans, salt, and seasoning cubes. 

(NAN)