No fewer than 100 people have so far benefited from the ongoing Free Surgical Intervention Programme initiated by the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

The programme kicked off on Monday with the registration of patients, while surgical operations started in earnest on Tuesday.

The surgical procedures are taking place across the six State Hospitals and the 40 General Hospitals across the state.

The breakdown showed that 36 surgical procedures have been carried out at State Hospital, Abeokuta, Ijebu Ode (22), Ilaro (6), and Ifo (4).

At the General Hospitals, two procedures have been carried out at Odeda, Owode-Egba (4), Ikenne (5), Iperu (3) and Imeko (6). The Olikoye Ransome Kuti Memorial Hospital, Asero, Abeokuta has witnessed one procedure.

Speaking on the progress of the programme at the State Hospital, Ijaye, Abeokuta, the Chief Medical Director, Dr. Bababunmi Osinaike, said the intervention programme has been seamless as 491 people have been registered at the hospital, while 36 patients have been operated upon.

He said: "As of this morning (Wednesday), we have registered about 491 enrollees. They are screened by health practitioners and they also decide those that are eligible and fit for surgery. We commenced surgery yesterday and we have carried out 36 surgeries so far.

"Out of the 36, we had 13 general surgery cases, one orthopedic, and 22 Ophthalmic surgeries. The general surgery cases range from hernia, undescended testicles, excision of breast lump, lipomas, among others."

The CMD, said 40 patients have been booked for operation out of which 17 would go for general surgery, and 23 for eye operation, adding that some gynaecology cases like fibroid and thyroid, would be attended to on Thursday.

Head of Clinical Services, the unit carrying out the surgical operations, Dr. Samuel Tolulope, said though the free surgery programme has attracted a huge turnout of patients, it has been hitch-free with no death recorded.

Mr. Owolabi Soletire, a resident of Abeokuta who was operated on lumps in the hand, elbow, and head said: As soon as I saw the advert on the Net, I quickly ran down to the State Hospital, met with nurses and doctors who registered, carry out the necessary tests on me free of charge and today, they successfully carried out the operation. I want to appreciate God and our amiable governor for this free surgery."

Also, Mr. Sunday Alayade, who was operated on hernia, thanked the governor for allowing him to benefit from the programme, saying with the operation done, his health would return to normal.

At the State Hospital Ijebu-Ode, a total of 23 surgical procedures have been successfully completed.

The Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr. Banjo Adeoye, who made this known in an interview, said the procedures would continue till the 31st of March, 2024.

"The surgeries we did today were for those that came and registered yesterday and we carried out 11 surgeries.

"For today, we have 12 surgical procedures and it is still going on at the Theatre as at this moment," he said.

Dr Banjo thanked Governor Dapo Abiodun for the opportunity given to the less privileged to have access to free health care, saying that the hospital is fully prepared to ensure that all registered beneficiaries are attended to.

"So far, it has been smooth. We have no major challenges. It is just that day by day, the number of people registering keeps going up.

"As of yesterday (Tuesday), we had 206 registered beneficiaries and at this moment (Wednesday), we have recorded about 230 beneficiaries for various surgical procedures," he said.

Mrs. Arinola Adenuga, whose 6 years old son was operated on at the hospital, expressed her happiness at the opportunity given to them by Governor Abiodun, saying that the burden of raising funds for the well-being of her son had been taken care of by the programme.

Also, 20-year-old Okuwobi Ayomide, 18-year-old Onaleye Solomon, and 13-year-old Olusola Abdulquazeem, who had Hernia operations at the hospital, thanked Governor Abiodun for the generosity extended to them.