The Commissioner for Health, Dr Nicholas Baamlong, disclosed this on Saturday, November 7, 2026, while briefing journalists on the conclusion of the general phase of the exercise organised by Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
According to Baamlong, the outreach, which ran from October 19 to November 6, covered selected public health facilities across the Central, Southern and Northern Senatorial Zones, providing free consultations, laboratory investigations, eye care, dental services and major and minor surgical procedures successfully carried out with no deaths.
The figures released by the Ministry of Health show that the programme attended to 4,294 patients in the Central Zone, 5,625 in the Southern Zone and 7,684 in the Northern Zone.
Across the three zones, the government recorded 5,033 eye consultations, distributed 3,588 pairs of eyeglasses and performed 390 cataract surgeries. A total of 4,857 laboratory investigations and 1,334 dental consultations were also conducted.
The outreach further recorded 724 surgical operations, comprising 151 major and 573 minor surgeries. The procedures included myomectomies, hysterectomies, prostatectomies, thyroidectomies, caesarean sections and orthopaedic interventions.
The ministry also disclosed that 457 people were enrolled in the Plateau State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (PLASCHEMA) during the exercise.
Baamlong said the 17,603 beneficiaries represented approximately 193 per cent above the initial target, describing the turnout as evidence of the demand for accessible and affordable healthcare services in the state.
However, the commissioner acknowledged that the outreach should not be treated as an isolated intervention, stressing the need to strengthen healthcare delivery across primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities.
He disclosed that Governor Mutfwang intends to institutionalise the programme as a regular intervention rather than a one-off exercise, dismissing suggestions that it was organised primarily because of the approaching election.
According to him, the programme had been planned earlier in the year but was delayed by the coordination, planning and engagement required with development partners, including German partners.
He explained that while emergency interventions, outbreak responses and ambulance services remain part of the ministry’s activities, the medical outreach is another component of the government’s broader healthcare strategy.
The commissioner said the long-term objective should be to strengthen existing health institutions to the point where elaborate medical outreaches would no longer be necessary, while ensuring that residents have regular access to essential healthcare services.
The programme is, however, not yet entirely concluded, as the government announced another three-week phase of specialised medical interventions at Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and Potters Specialist Hospital, Jos.
The next phase is expected to cover advanced orthopaedic, neurological, neurosurgical, urological and ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeries for patients requiring more complex medical procedures.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Mr Samuel Aliyu Tsoho, said the intervention cost millions of naira, while appreciating the governor, medical personnel and other stakeholders who participated in the exercise.
He particularly acknowledged health workers who travelled to rural communities and remained at designated facilities to provide services throughout the outreach.
While the government has presented the figures as a major achievement, the planned institutionalisation of the programme raises an important question about the sustainability of free medical interventions and the capacity of existing public health facilities to provide affordable services beyond periodic government-sponsored outreaches.
For thousands of residents who benefited from the exercise, the intervention provided access to treatments and surgeries that might otherwise have been financially difficult to afford. The challenge now is to translate the intervention into lasting improvements in healthcare access, infrastructure and service delivery across Plateau State.
