From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Jennifer Etuh Foundation (JEF) has commenced a five-day free medical outreach at the Jennifer Etuh Specialist Hospital in Mallagum, Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, targeting more than 3,000 women and residents of underserved communities.
The outreach, which began on August 17 and will end on August 21, 2026, is part of the foundation’s broader mission to provide healthcare, education and economic empowerment to Nigerians living in hard-to-reach communities.
Speaking with journalists at the hospital, JEF Programme Manager, Joe Otu, said the initiative was driven by the need to make quality healthcare accessible to people in underserved areas.
“It stemmed from the need to ensure that healthcare is accessible to people in hard-to-reach areas like this,” Otu said.
He explained that the Jennifer Etuh Foundation was established in 2020 in memory of the late Mrs Jennifer Ramatu Etuh, whose passion was to serve God and humanity by supporting women, girls and vulnerable people.
In line with her vision, Otu said the foundation had established six advanced medical facilities, one in each of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
According to him, the hospitals are located in Odu-Ogboyaga, Kogi State; Mallagum-Kagoro, Kaduna State; Ifewara, Osun State; Ochon, Cross River State; Tula, Gombe State; and Umunoha, Imo State.
“We have one here in Kagoro, which is her hometown. We have another in Kogi, where my boss, Mr Thomas Etuh, is from. We also have one in Gombe, Cross River, Imo and Osun,” he said.
“They are not in cities or towns, but in hard-to-reach locations where we can reach the underserved.”
97,724 patients reached through 24 outreaches
Otu disclosed that the foundation had so far reached 97,724 patients through 236,557 interventions in 24 medical outreaches across 10 states.
He said nearly 40,000 interventions had been carried out for about 15,000 people in 2026 alone, with recent outreaches extending to Takum in Taraba State and planned programmes in Akwa Ibom and Nasarawa states.
On the first day of the Mallagum outreach, more than 600 patients were attended to, with health workers expecting the number to increase as the programme progresses.
Joy Audu, Project Coordinator and volunteer with Pro-Health International, said the medical team had recorded a high prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, peptic ulcers, infections and surgical conditions among beneficiaries.
“As of yesterday, we saw over 450 cases, and today we are aiming for 500 to 600 because of the crowd. We’ve seen blood pressure readings of 230 over 120, even in people as young as 30 and 40 years old,” she said.
Audu attributed some of the health challenges to inadequate health awareness and the patronage of unqualified medical practitioners.
She said some patients had discontinued prescribed blood pressure medication based on misinformation, while others purchased unlabelled drugs from unqualified providers at high prices.
Audu called on government and religious leaders to intensify health awareness campaigns and support primary healthcare services.
“Doctors are not witches. We pray first, then serve humanity. We need more primary healthcare centres and support for medical teams who volunteer for this work,” she said.
Free surgeries, vaccines, laboratory tests
Christiana Afolayan, Programme Officer at JEF, said all services provided under the outreach were free.
She listed the services to include dental care, eye surgery, general surgeries for conditions such as hernia, fibroid and goitre, laboratory tests, health promotion, distribution of mosquito nets, infant formula and soap, as well as menstrual hygiene education and free sanitary pads.
“We also provide free vaccines, including HPV, DPT and Zero-Dose immunisation to address gaps in Northern Nigeria,” Afolayan added.
She said although women, girls and children remained the primary focus of the programme, men were also eligible to benefit.
“You’re seeing men come in for hernia surgeries. We don’t restrict it,” she said.
Beneficiaries commend foundation
Some beneficiaries expressed appreciation for the free medical services.
Mutua Joseph from Bondon Community in Kaura LGA, who underwent surgery for a cheek fibroma, said the procedure would have been unaffordable for him at a private hospital.
“This surgery would have cost over N150,000 in a private hospital. I want to thank this foundation. May God continue to bless Mrs Jennifer,” he said.
Hajiya Maryam Musa, 52, from Zonkwa, said she had been managing hypertension for three years but struggled to afford her medication.
“I have been managing BP for three years but could not buy drugs. Here they tested me, gave me drugs and counselled me for free. God will bless JEF,” she said.
An 18-year-old student, Aisha Ibrahim, from Kaura, who received menstrual hygiene education and free sanitary pads, said the programme had helped her better understand her body.
“They taught us about our bodies. Before now, I was scared because of what people told me. Now I understand,” she said.
Similarly, Sunday Danladi from Kagoro, who brought his four-year-old daughter for Zero-Dose immunisation, expressed gratitude for the intervention.
“We don’t have money for the hospital, but here they vaccinated her and gave us drugs. This is God’s work,” he said.
JEF targets 3,000 women with economic empowerment programme
Beyond healthcare, JEF is implementing a three-year Kaduna Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) Programme targeting 3,000 beneficiaries.
In the first phase in 2024, 410 women in Jama’a and Kaura LGAs were trained in tailoring, cosmetology, hairdressing, bag-making, shoemaking and catering.
Another 670 women were trained in vertical sack farming, with the foundation reporting a 97 per cent increase in yields.
The second phase, implemented in 2025, covered Zaria and Makarfi LGAs, where 400 women received skills training and 600 participated in sack farming. For the first time, 10 per cent of the programme slots were allocated to men.
The third phase, which is ongoing in Chikun and Kaduna South LGAs, is training 400 women in vocational skills and another 600 in sack farming.
The beneficiaries receive seeds, cocoa peat, seeding trays, pesticides and herbicides, alongside practical training on demonstration farms.
The foundation also said it would continue its scholarship programme, covering beneficiaries from primary school to university level, while expanding its healthcare and economic empowerment initiatives to more communities across Nigeria.
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