Hope for a more health conscious Anguilla was promoted at a robust health fair dubbed Project Hope. The weekend event, sponsored by the Governor’s Office, saw a conglomeration of various health stakeholders in attendance.
Very prominent was the Anguilla Community Action Network (ACAN) in collaboration with the St James Medical School. Also involved were the Anguilla Red Cross, National Health Insurance, MASA and Dolphin Discovery.
The fair’s slogan, “Don’t Hesitate! It’s better to know at the earliest, than to wait until it is too late,” was more than just words. There were free health checks available. They included on the spot HIV tests, Diabetes, Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index, Eye, Hearing, Mini Mental Tests and, by voucher, Pap Smears and Cholesterol testing.
The tests were ably manned by a rotating team of over 100 student volunteers from the St James Medical School, and other health officials. Over 260 persons participated in the health fair.
Dr Lanny Hobson, PHD MD, spoke of the 2250 free health checks done by the National Health Insurance as of July 2014 to February 2015;and Dr Bruce Davidson, Dean of St James Medical School, saw the fair as a win/win situation: the public are getting some of their health checks done free, while the students are getting experience and interacting with the local population.
John C Lake, Founder/Director of ACAN, was totally involved and passionate about people having access to testing. He is committed to the task of prompting persons to get the care and treatment they need to stay healthy.
