A large number of persons in Anguilla were told about the importance of healthy living and eating when they turned up at the Rodney MacArthur Rey Auditorium for a Health Fair and Symposium. That was on Thursday, September 12, in observance of Caribbean Wellness Day which was postponed the day before due to a power outage. The opening ceremony was chaired by Mrs Jennifer Gumbs, Senior Health Educator.
Special Adviser in the Ministry of Health Services, Patrick Hanley, said Caribbean Wellness Day, a recommendation of the Port of Spain Declaration, was celebrated in Anguilla with various activities for several years. “These activities are designed to stimulate public awareness, reduce the risk of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity,” he stated. “This health fair and symposium is focusing on wellness and is therefore to be viewed as a catalyst to pay more heed to the need to take charge of our health. The theme, ‘Love that Body’, is quite appropriate. It emphasises the need to eat healthy, exercise regularly, reduce the intake of alcohol and cease tobacco use. These are important behavioural patterns which each of us must pledge to adopt and sustain. Let us all unite in the fight of non-communicable diseases.”
The event was sponsored by the Medical Air Services Association in Anguilla (MASA). Mr Donald Curtis, Country Manager, commended the Health Authority and Mrs Jennifer Gumbs for giving his organisation the opportunity to sponsor similar events over the past for years. “This health fair and the others, over the last four years, are important in saving lives,” he commented. “We have been able to help about 1400 people who have checked their blood pressure and blood sugar. This is a significant number of people who have taken control of their health, their lives, faced their fears and live a better life…This is a small island and we have an opportunity to help everyone – and we want to say that we have helped 13,000 people who have come to these fairs. This is our goal.”
Dr Shani Hughes, General Medical Practitioner, spoke on non-communicable chronic diseases, the subject of the Health Fair and Symposium. She defined chronic non-communicable diseases as being arthritis, cancer, chronic pain, diabetes (which is high blood sugar), hypertension (which is high blood pressure), heart disease, kidney disease, lung disease and strokes, and pointed to the increasing number of deaths they cause.
She urged all persons to see about their own health, as far as possible, by controlling their high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high cholesterol levels. “What we all need to do is live healthy, enjoy life and treat everyday as if it is Caribbean Wellness Day,” she advised her listeners.
The observance of Caribbean Wellness Day in Anguilla comprised three main activities over a three-day period: the Health Fair and Symposium, a Healthy Snack & Exercise Day and a Breakfast Walk from The Valley to Blowing Pont.
