By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Residents of Abule Oja in Lagos State could not hide their joy when AXA Mansard Health Limited recently visited the community with some medical personnel for its outreach.
This initiative is largely driven by employees of the insurance company under the AXA Hearts in Action programme designed to demonstrate the organisation’s commitment to total wellness for everyone.
The chairman of the Abule Oja Community Development Association, Mr Otunbade Nurudeen, thanked AXA Mansard for considering the community for such a laudable initiative.
“We’re delighted today to have AXA Mansard conduct this Outreach here. We are grateful for the investment in time, the mosquito nets, the health talk and the screening.
“These are significant gestures that will help our community stay healthy, especially in this current economic situation,” the community leader enthused.
The Chief Marketing Officer of AXA Mansard, Ms Adebola Surakat, explained that, “AXA Hearts in Action is our global employee volunteering programme.”
“It is at the core of our purpose of acting for human progress. It is a programme that ensures that our employees are not just coming to work to create solutions for progress every day, but they come to work also to give back their time to causes that advance a better and healthier society,” she added.
The chief executive of AXA Mansard, Mr Tope Adeniyi, said, “For us at AXA Mansard Health, universal health coverage is an important topic.
“We are convinced that healthcare should be accessible, available and affordable. And it should be accessible to everyone notwithstanding their socio-economic, geographic and educational status”.
“So, this medical outreach is another in the series of programmes we have listed to improve community health this year.”
“You will recall that early in the year, we donated medical equipment to general hospitals in remote areas across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. We are not relenting. We are poised to do more. It is our wish that wellness is ubiquitous anywhere you turn in Nigeria. And we are embarking on this journey one community at a time,” he further stated.
Continuing, he said, “What should also interest you in the community health outreach is that our employee volunteers majorly drive it.
“Our employees across ranks and sectors were not just the brains behind this programme; they came out and dedicated their time.
“They went into the community to make this programme a success. That tells you that this is not just a CSR programme; it is a commitment that permeates our system and is at the heart of our employees.”