Marietta Imadojiemu is a medical doctor working in Nigeria at the intersection between health and development.
She works full time in a leading cardiology and critical care centre in Nigeria which offers outpatient and inpatient services with comparatively good outcomes. However, she dedicates her off days to serving as a volunteer and Executive director of the Health Proactivists Initiative (HPI)
She believes that quality, equitable healthcare is a major driver for development, this is why she is contributing to the healthcare solutions of her generation.
She wants to see Nigeria become a country that regards citizens’ health, especially preventive health, as a non-negotiable priority area, and she yearns for an Africa where youth are growth-focused and actively form partnerships for the sustainable development goals to create a world where no one is left behind.
About Health Proactivists Initiative
Health Proactivists Initiative (HPI) is a non-profit organization fighting noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa and advocating for Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria.
Dr Marietta and her team are currently achieving their goal through health education, advocacy, community check-up screening programs and strengthening primary health care.
So far, HPI has reached about 7000 Africans, retrained 50 primary health workers and equipped four primary health facilities in Nigeria with tools for NCDs prevention and control.
It will be a dream come true for the HPI, to expand its impact in a way that focuses more on people living with NCDs and youth at risk while leveraging technology.
Why She Is Passionate About Fighting NCDs
We asked Dr Marietta why she is passionate about what she does, here is what she said: During my first year of practice as a medical doctor, I witnessed existing health inequities at close range. It was devastating to see pocket size, ignorance and poor-quality health services determine who lived or died. It was less about one doctor and more about an effective health system.
Furthermore, a health system built to handle mostly infectious diseases seemed overwhelmed by the rising double burden of disease. Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension, diabetes, cancers and their complications were taking over the scene.
The burden of a defective primary health care system is obviously too heavy for the secondary and tertiary health institutions to bear especially with the current brain drain of the system’s human resources.
This led me to want to do more beyond the consulting room, so I started Health Proactivists Initiative (HPI). Fortunately, you only need to start with small impacts to create a ripple effect.
How Her Work Is Changing Lives
Her work at HPI empowers low-income community health centres to prevent and control NCDs – the silent killers and major causes of death of this century.
They also ensure emphasis on the importance of health insurance during their community programs to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on healthcare.
The work they do prevents fatal complications, saves costs by reducing hospitalisation, and ultimately reduces premature death of breadwinners in these low-income households.
How You Can Support HPI
HPI will be glad to have your support on its mission to reduce premature death from NCDs.
You can support by:
» Donating financially using the link paystack.com/pay/healthproactivistsinitiative
» Partnering with them for one of their projects
» Volunteering with the HPI team
» Donating in-kind – Sphygmomanometer, Accucheck Glucometer, Weighing scales, Antihypertensives and Antidiabetic medications, Volunteer welfare packages etc.
Get In Touch
Twitter | @etta_MD
IG | @etta_md
LinkedIn | linkedin.com/in/mariettaimadojiemu
Email | marietta.imadojiemu@yahoo.com
****
♡♡ Thank you very much for reading! Someone on your timeline may need this information and inspiration, please kindly help us share this post so they can see it ↓↓
