Over 1,000 residents of Cross River State have benefited from a free medical outreach organised by Youth Swagger Medical Outreach, (powered by Grace Network Evangelical Outreach) offering free surgeries and dental care to residents who cannot afford the cost of medical treatment.
The outreach, which took place on Tuesday 31st of March and Wednesday 1st of April in Calabar, provided a range of healthcare services including minor and major surgeries, dental treatments, eye care, and general medical consultations amongst others
Speaking during the exercise , The Team Lead of the Free Medical Divison. Blessing Obie, said the initiative was aimed at bridging the gap in access to quality healthcare, particularly for rural dwellers who cannot afford the cost of medical treatment.
According to her, a team of volunteer medical professionals comprising surgeons, dentists, nurses, and pharmacists were mobilised to deliver the services at no cost to beneficiaries.
"Every year, we do as much as we can to reach out to the people, we keep a very open mind. We reach out to as many as we can. We don't have restrictions. We ensure that we reach out to as many as we can", obie emphasised.
"Most times, after the consultation here, if there is anyone that needs a pull-up surgery for the eye, we refer them back to the TCF and then they pull up and they do surgery.
"The payment is covered by us. it is part of the free outreach. Every treatment is ompletely free, including surgery", she added.
She noted that many of the patients treated had lived with various medical conditions for years due to financial constraints, adding that the intervention helped restore hope and improve their quality of life.
“We are committed to reaching vulnerable populations who lack access to basic healthcare. This outreach is part of our broader mission to ensure that no one is left behind due to inability to pay for medical services,” Obie explained.
In his part, Dr. Kevin Waite, stated that one of the major cases discovered and attended to are high blood pressure, hypertension, high blood sugar, and malaria.
"Malaria seems to be sweeping across Calabar. Thank God we have not seen much hepatitis B, which is very good. The doctors are just super excellent. The lab technicians, the pharmacy, the eye doctors, the dentists, I mean we have been working as a group. We have been consulting with each other in the interest of each patient", he added
Some of the beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the organisers, describing the initiative as timely and impactful.
One of the beneficiaries; Magnus Emeh lauded the foundation for reaching out to those who may not be privileged to go to a hospital, describing the gesture as glorifying to God and humanity.
"What they are doing here is glorifying God and humanity. This exercise of reaching out to those who may not be privileged to go to a conventional hospital is the best. I therefore appealed to the organization to continue in that spirit.", she pleaded.
Another beneficiary, Patience Sunday commended the initiative, saying that she has benefited from the foundation in many instances, calling on government to support the initiatives to sustain the efforts of the organization.
Na'ar Youth Swagger is a yearly gospel event powered by Grace Network Evangrlical Outreach (Grace Consulate) with its headquarters at 39 Chamley, Calabar South, and the lead pastor is Pst Lawrence Agbata.
The medical outreach is just a part of the one week long event Naar Youth Swagger and 2026 is the 12th edition with the likes of House of Salem , Pst KJ, Pat Simon, and a host of others ministering on Friday the 3rd of April.
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