The call was made by the Chairman, SOFPON, Ekiti Zone, Dr. O.A. Solomon during the Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Association in Ido Ekiti, with the theme: “Family Doctor: Caring for you, for the whole of your life.

According to Dr. Solomon, “this year’s theme succinctly bring to the fore the role of Family Physicians in providing lifelong care to our patients from cradle to grave. To achieve this goal, it is important for Family Physicians to stay healthy and work in partnership and to continue to advocate efficient and effective healthcare delivery in Nigeria by finding shared solutions.”

The Chairman of the occasion, Dr. Adebayo Orire in his welcome address said: “Healthcare delivery should be people oriented with every Nigerian having access to a doctor within 5km of their place of residence. The family physicians manning the district hospitals/comprehensive health centres would ensure that Nigerians have integrated specialist care within easy reach.”

The representative of the Commissioner of Health, Ekiti State, Dr. Adetoye, said “the Family Physician is geared towards providing universal access in a cost-effective manner due to his polyvalent medical skills by ensuring that all health care levels are functioning and the current paucity in health care delivery at the primary and secondary level of care is bridged.”

In the same vein, the Guest Speaker of the occasion, Dr. Ahmed Liasu Adeagbo, who is the Medical Director, Federal Medical Center, Owo, Ondo State, in his lecture titled: “Family Doctors – Caring for you for the whole of your life.” said, “Health is about people -beyond the glittering surface of modern technology, the core space of every health system is occupied by the unique encounter between people who need service and those entrusted to deliver them.”

“As Family Physicians, we make a difference in the health and lives of ourselves, our patients and our communities in a privileged way.”

He advised citizens to go for regular checkup and engage in exercise, exercises such as climbing, the charisma walking, swimming, jogging, biking and others. These exercises can help you burn calories and fat, stabilise your blood sugar and prevent heart diseases and stroke.”

Another guest lecturer who represented the Chief Medical Director, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti, (FETHI). Dr. Paul Olowoyo gave a lecture titled: “Periodic Medical Check up.” In his lecture, he said, “Periodic medical check up is a visit with a health care provider to access an asymptomatic person’s health and risk factors for preventable disease, with delivery of preventive services tailored to age, sex and risk factors.”

“A sedentary lifestyle is one of the five major risk factors along with high blood pressure, abnormal values for blood lipids, smoking, and obesity for cardiovascular disease.”

“Evidence from many scientific studies shows that reducing these risk factors decreases the chance of having a heart attack or experiencing another cardiac event such as a stroke.’’

Olowoyo also urged the Federal Government to invest in an all encompassing health promotion policy to reduce the rate of cardiovascular diseases and congenital heart diseases in children.

Also, the Chief Medical Director, Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido Ekiti (FETHI) later visited the venue of the conference and shared with attendees that “Family Physicians in primary healthcare play a key role in achieving an efficient and effective healthcare delivery to the people.”

He noted that the association is aimed at promoting health and allied services, to promote the welfare and integrity of its members for the overall improvement of all medical profession.

The association also held a medical outreach at the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES) and Ayooba FM, Ado Ekiti, where no fewer than 200 persons were screened for blood pressure, glucose level, eye diseases and dental check up.