No fewer than 300 children and caregivers in Iwaya community, Yaba, Lagos State, benefitted from a free medical outreach organised by The Neo Child Initiative for Africa (TNCI) in collaboration with the I Just Gave Back (IJGB) Initiative.
The outreach, tagged 'Free Community Health Outreach', delivered essential healthcare services to residents of the riverside community, with a focus on vulnerable children and low-income households.
Services provided included health education, nutrition screening, malaria screening and treatment, dental consultation, treatment of minor ailments and distribution of hygiene packs.
Speaking during the exercise, Executive Director of TNCI, Ms. Esther Nwaiwu, said the intervention was part of the organisation's commitment to improving access to quality healthcare for underserved communities.
"This is our second community health outreach for 2025, and over 250 beneficiaries have been reached today. We organise these outreaches twice a year because our goal is to ensure that children, especially those in marginalised communities, can live healthier lives and access quality healthcare," she said.
Nwaiwu explained that Iwaya was selected following a needs assessment which revealed a high prevalence of malaria and malnutrition among children in the area.
"After our assessment, we discovered a significant burden of malaria and malnutrition here. That informed our decision to bring this intervention to Iwaya, having previously covered other communities in Yaba and Makoko," she added.
She explained that mobilisation for the programme was achieved through collaboration with the local government, health authorities and community leaders, adding that all services and medications provided were free of charge.
"We understand that many families here cannot afford healthcare. That is why we bring free medical services directly to the community," Nwaiwu said.
Also speaking, Healthcare Administrator and Health Lead for I Just Gave Back Initiative, Ms. Victoria Okyere, said the partnership was driven by a desire among Nigerians in the diaspora to give back meaningfully.
"I Just Gave Back was created to ensure that Nigerians returning home do more than celebrate. We want to support communities through initiatives like this. Partnering with TNCI allows us to reach underserved populations with preventive healthcare," she said.
Okyere, a hospital administrator based abroad, emphasised that the outreach focused on prevention through early screening, consultation and caregiver education.
Some beneficiaries expressed appreciation for the initiative. Mrs. Rose Adesha, a mother whose one-year-old child received treatment, described the outreach as timely and impactful.
"The programme is well organised and the doctors attended to us very well. The drugs they gave us would have been expensive at the hospital. I am very grateful," she said.
TNCI disclosed that an end-line survey would be conducted in the coming months to assess the impact of the outreach and guide future interventions in the community.
The organisation stated that while Lagos remains its operational base, it has carried out similar health and education interventions in states such as Enugu, Abuja, Kwara and Cross River, as part of its broader mission to support children across Nigeria.