Ekiti — Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State has said that he plans to sustain the ongoing free surgical operations and other medical intervention programmes introduced by the government.

He gave the assurance yesterday while monitoring the free surgical operations at the state Specialist Hospital in Ado-Ekiti.

Oni said government was committed to the welfare of the people, promising that priority attention would continue to be given to qualitative health care delivery.

He announced that more than 20,000 patients had directly benefited from the programme in the last six months.

The governor said: "we have done free eye surgery; we have distributed free eye glasses and drugs.

"We have also been doing free surgical operations, which could have cost patients millions of naira."

Oni said government was also developing a programme aimed at drastically reducing the rate of maternal and infant mortality in the state.

"Under the programme, which I am sure will take off next year, pregnant women, nursing mothers and their babies will undergo a series of free tests," he said.

The governor commended the 25 surgeons from the United States and their Nigerian counterparts who are participating in the programme, and urged other medical professionals to emulate them.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Femi Thomas, had earlier announced that more than 300 surgeries were successfully performed in the first six days.

He promised that no less than 1,000 patients would be operated upon before the end of the programme.

He said patients suffering from ailments such as hernia, fibroid, rickets and goitre were among those who underwent surgery.