Pharm. Onyekachi's NGO - MEDGLOBE is committed to promoting Health and Medication adherence globally
In an interview with Attain, Pharm. Onyekachi Nwakoby talks about her organization, MEDGLOBE and its committment to promoting health and medication adherence globally.
1. Please kindly tell us about yourself?
My name is Onyekachi Nwakoby, the Founder of MEDGLOBE, a health organization committed to promoting health and medication adherence globally.
I hold a Bachelors Degree in Pharmacy obtained from Central University, Ghana and a board member of Nigeria Association of Foreign trained Pharmacists (NAFtraPH).
I am experienced in community pharmacy practice, I just finished my pharmacy internship with Mopheth Pharmacy as the Best Intern Of the Year 2018 where I focused on pharmaceutical care, drugs dispensing and Pharmacy management.
Apart from MEDGLOBE, I am a professional volunteer with a reputable organization - Girlhub Africa.
I am passionate about drug adherence and educating the public on the right indication of drugs and every other drug information in order to reduce side effects, drug abuse, misuse, self medication and worst case death.
2. Tell us about your Non-profit Organization
MEDGLOBE is a nonprofit health organization of well grounded health professionals, who have come together to render their skills and expertise to make a global impact towards medication adherence promotion and improvement in the quality of life/health status of every individual especially those who reside in rural communities through :
• Conducting awareness campaign on medication compliance and health education.
• Building the competence and experience of health care professionals through education, volunteering and training for better societal impact.
• Organizing free medical outreaches to ensure better access to quality medicines and diagnostic materials for the well being of the populace especially those in rural communities.
3. What brought about your Non-profit and when did it start?
Non adherence to medication by patients is a global health challenge and accounts for 57% of global poor health outcomes, increased hospitalizations, and even death. In Nigeria, it is estimated at 50%. There are many inter related reasons for this which specifically includes poor counselling and inadequate pharmaceutical care from the health care provider. Though patient education is the key to improving compliance, use of compliance aids, proper motivation and support is also shown to increase medication adherence. This is why MEDGLOBE was established ; to provide a solution to this health challenge.
We do this through organizing health talks,seminars and outreaches in communities, schools, churches and creating awareness on health conditions and medications through social media.
4. What were the main challenges you faced early on when you started this Vision and how did you overcome them ?
Well the major challenge I faced when we started was getting people who had the same vision and were willing to volunteer their time and skills to achieve the goal of the Organization. We were able to overcome this challenge by motivating and educating health care providers to understand the urgent need of being part of our vision to make a collective impact in the health care sector.
Today, we have over 50 committed Volunteers who have keyed to our vision and are making impact in various parts of Nigeria.
5. What has been the biggest challenge you have faced since you started?
The biggest challenge I have faced would have to be raising funds and obtaining grants to ensure the smooth flow of our planned activities towards our vision and of course the corporate affairs registration of our NGO
6. What do you consider success in your Non-profit?
The level of impacts made measures our success and contribute to our milestone. Whenever we are able to reach out to many lives through medical outreaches and health awareness campaigns organised by us, we can say we have achieved the goal of the Organization, hence Success!
7. At what point did you begin to achieve success in your pursuit of your Vision and how did it happen?
Our success story began when more health professionals keyed into our vision as volunteers and also when we began to reach out to more people through collaborations with other reputable health organizations. All these started after a persistent period of social media awareness, physical meetings with health care providers and partner organisations in addition to prayers as well. It was not easy at first but finally we came through.
8. What would you consider your greatest achievement ever since you started ?
Our greatest achievement would be our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY medical outreach. We organized a medical outreach at The Destitute’s Home, Okobaba, Ebuta Metta, Lagos on the 4th of May, 2019. We reached out to over 500 people ; children,teenagers and adults included. It was really a big success and the impact made was great !
9. Who has inspired you the most as a Non-profit founder?
God, my ever supportive family and loved ones inspire me to do more and achieve more no matter how much I think I must have achieved, they remind me “not to get comfortable yet ! “
I also get inspiration from other change makers striving to make our society and the world a healthier, peaceful and better place to live in.
10. If you could go back in time, what are the changes you would have made for your Non-profit?
I would have started with the registration immediately we began. Apart from that, everything that happened from when we started till now has been smooth though there have been a few rough edges, mistakes were made and lessons learnt.
11. What else should we see you doing in the Future?
Health Promotion is my ultimate goal, so I plan to keep promoting health through every possible way especially through public speaking on health education for those who do not have access to the internet, social media , television, radios and so on, collaborating with both national and international organizations to provide provide free and quality medical services to the underprivileged.
For MEDGLOBE, we plan to expand and reach out to other states in Nigeria, countries in Africa and the world at large.
13. What's the most important lesson you have learnt since you started your Non-profit?
The greatest lessons I learnt from MEDGLOBE is to be patient, trust my instincts, carry others along because as a team we can achieve more and to never give up .
Wish to connect with Dr Onyekachi on social media?
Instagram- @kachikoby
- @medglobe_
Twitter - @kachi_koby
- @MEDGLOBE2
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