Wellness on Wheels pioneers mobile clinic to remote communities

The project Wellness on Wheels (WoW) is using mobile clinics with integrated services to take health care to underserved hard-to-reach remote rural communities. WoW, implemented by the Community Health Empowerment Foundation (CHEF) through a grant by IHS Nigeria, has piloted as a model outreach three communities each in Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos and the FCT. “It […]

The project Wellness on Wheels (WoW) is using mobile clinics with integrated services to take health care to underserved hard-to-reach remote rural communities.

WoW, implemented by the Community Health Empowerment Foundation (CHEF) through a grant by IHS Nigeria, has piloted as a model outreach three communities each in Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos and the FCT.

“It is an integrated platform for immunization, malaria diagnosis and treatment, HIV counselling and testing (including TB), child spacing/family planning, and diarrhoeal disease (safe water) services to hard-to-reach, medically underserved communities,” said CHEF executive director ,Dr Ernest Nwokolo, said in a statement.

The mobile clinic model healthcare  is in the back of a van into communities, then sets up screens where health workers working for different programmes attend to residents.

Nigeria’s doctor to patient ratio of 1:4,000 is far higher than a recommended 1:600, meaning the country will need 235,000 more doctors alone to meet World Health Organisation recommendation.

WoW project also targeted schools with specialist screening programmes for dental, eye and nutrition care.