| Senior Health Educator, with the Health Promotion Unit of Anguilla, and some of her colleagues, expressed surprise at the large turnout of persons for testing on Caribbean Wellness Day, on September 9. |
Mrs. Jennifer Gumbs spoke to reporters during a health fair in observance of the event, outside the Primary Health Care building, where various personnel from the Health Authority performed blood sugar and blood pressure checks. They also referred a number of persons to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for laboratory tests for HIV, Cholesterol and Prostate.
“I must say that people are really coming out in large numbers and want their tests done and are supporting our health fair,” the health official stated. “We would like various organisations to come on board because we found that we only had 20 cholesterol checks and, as expected, they finished quickly. It means that people are taking good care of themselves and want to know that they have good health. We are really asking organisations to help us so that we can have the necessary supplies to serve the public better. All they have to do is tell us they will provide forty or fifty free tests.”  ADVERTISEMENT
Mrs. Gumbs observed that in previous health fairs only the older folk came forward to be tested, but of late a number of young people had begun to do so much to their own welfare and the satisfaction of the Health Promotion Unit.
Meanwhile, John Lake, of the Anguilla Community National Network, assisted by Claudette Pickering, managed an area of the health fair which dealt with HIV/AIDS. He stressed the importance of HIV testing as part of their general health awareness of the population. |
