Staff of Dexa Medical attending to people

By Nehru Odeh

Dexa Medica, manufacturer of drugs such as Boska, Stimuno, Konos and HerbaCough, provided free medical services at Ipaja Modern Market, Ayobo-Ipaja, in Lagos State on Friday 10 June 2022.

The event, tagged Boska Pain Free Day, was well attended and named after Boska, one of the company’s products which is a household name in Nigeria. The products of Dexa Medica are marketed in Nigeria by Orange Drugs Limited.

The free medical services include malaria test, eye test (with provision of free eye glasses), blood pressure test and body massage. Not only were those services provided free of charge, medical doctors were on hand to give expert advice and recommendations.

It was indeed fun and party time as traders, buyers and people living in the environs and beyond enjoyed the free medical services in the ever busy market, one of the largest in Lagos State. Music filled the air and book prizes were awarded to kids who thrilled the audience with latest dance steps.

Uchendu Ovuike, Senior Brand Executive, Dexa Medica, said the free medical services were part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, done to pay back the Ipaja community for patronising their products over the years. This particular event, according to Ovuike was one of the monthly free medical services that the company provides across the country.

“We believe the community has made us what we are. So we are trying to give back to the community. That’s why we try as much as possible to give them their basic need, which is medical check-up. They don’t have time for check-up. If you check the name of our programme, Free Medical Check-up. That is why we call it Boska Pain Free day, the day when we do everything free of charge for them, even massage and remove their pains or whatever is causing pains to their bodies. We have doctors that check their system and advise them on what to do,” Ovuike said.

Ovuike also said what the company has done is to bring the hospital to the people, as they, being traders, are too busy to visit healthcare centres, take care of their health and solve their health needs.

“We understand that Lagosians are hardworking set of people. They don’t have time to visit the hospital because they believe they would lose money during the times they spend visiting the hospital. So what we do is we bring the hospital to them,” he explained.

Asked why Ipaja market was chosen for this month’s CSR, he noted that the venue was chosen because of its size and was a convergent point for both traders, buyers, residents and passers-by, adding that “anybody can come in and enjoy what we have to offer.”

“If you notice Ipaja is one of the biggest markets in Lagos. And because it is big, so many people come here to transact business. So the crowd that we get around is the reason we chose this market. But we do it monthly. From Ipaja market, we would go to another market, anywhere we are sure of meeting many individuals. That is why we have chosen the market place,” Ovuike maintained.

Staff of Dexa Medical conducting malaria test on some of the beneficiaries of the free health care initiative

However, Ovuike noted that Dexa Medica is also carrying out the monthly free medical services across the country.

“We actually carry it out monthly. And it is not just in Lagos alone. It happens across Nigeria, in Ibadan, Onitsha, Aba, Kano, Gombe, Kaduna etc. This is something the company has put in place for the citizens of Nigeria to make them understand that we care also. That is why our drugs are for normal households.

“That is why we are giving it back to them, to take care of their health, to sensitize the public that they should also take good care of their health,” he said.

It was indeed a day to remember as the people who enjoyed the various free medical services expressed their appreciation, noting that not only did the company bring the hospital to them, it saved them the time and money they would have spent going to the hospital to seek those services.

“I can’t thank the company enough. It has done so well. Not only did I test my blood pressure, which I found to be very high I also did malaria and eye test and was given eye glasses,” Dolapo Ogunwale, an aged woman and trader, said.

“This is very great. We don’t always enjoy things like this. This is what we are supposed to enjoy from our leaders but we don’t have access to them. The company has done to well. They have shown us that they are caring,” Ibironke Lawal noted.

“I’m so happy to be here. One thing that makes this so special is that I enjoyed these free medical services while still in the market selling my goods. It is like killing two birds with one stone. I appreciate this,” Mercy Mba enthused.

Ovuike indeed was appreciative of the large turnout. “Actually the response has been encouraging. You can see so many people coming in. Since this is a market, they come and go. But we are encouraged by the number of people that have come here and enjoyed what we have to offer. Because of this we would be able to do more. Since we have seen that the turnout is large, we would also increase the budget to accommodate more people,” Ovuike explained.

Asked what the company’s next target market would be, he said: “Our next target marker would be Mushin market because we know that there is a large number of people there and many people would converge there also. That would be in July.