In March, 304 community members received free healthcare at Care Circle in Itire-Surulere, Lagos, bringing the clinic's total since launch to 1,674 patients. Of those, 167 (55%) were visiting for the first time, up from 41% in February, which means word about the clinic is still reaching new families.
Demolitions in parts of Itire-Surulere are still ongoing and have displaced some community members, but the clinic stayed fully open all month and crossed our 300-patient target. 70% of patients were women, and the average patient lives on $5.37 per person per month, well below the global poverty line. Malaria was the most common condition we treated (38% of visits), followed by upper respiratory infections (18%) and hypertension (14%). We spent about £321 (US$407) on medications and nurses' salaries, and the plastic waste recycling programme attached to the clinic also turned 4 pounds of neighbourhood waste into cash to support operations, while reducing mosquito breeding sites in the process.
Mrs Sandra came to Care Circle for the first time after a friend told her about it, and shared her experience on video.
With first-time visits still climbing, we expect Care Circle to keep growing through April as word about the clinic continues to reach new families.