Hundreds attend SDA Health Fair

While some Vincentians revelled last weekend, over 1,000 persons attended a health fair at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College at Villa where they were able to access a number of health services free of charge.{{more}}

Though the event was slated to begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 28th, 2009, some persons reported that they arrived at the college as early as 6:30 a.m.

The services available included free medical consultations, eye checks, blood pressure checks, blood cholesterol and blood sugar checks, dental services, hearing acuity tests and counselling sessions.

The event was a collaborative effort by United Hands Incorporated, the Medical Relief Association, the St.Vincent and the Grenadines Region of Seventh Day Adventist, and the Ministry of Health and Environment.

Fidel Caesar, Chairman of the MRA said, approximately one year ago, the MRA contacted UHI to see if they would be interested in coming to St.Vincent and the Grenadines to render their services.

Caesar said the organization has a large Seventh Day Adventist membership; hence, efforts were made to collaborate with the local Seventh Day Adventist Church.The SDA assisted greatly with the logistics.

“This is all about preventative health care; preventing some of the leading causes of death like heart attacks through high blood pressure and so forth. This health fair that we are having here, it is simply a way of detecting unidentified diseases,” said Caesar.

Dr. David Williams, speaking on behalf of the visiting all volunteer group, said the organization is based in the United States and is approximately 10 years old. It was initially started with a group West Indians, who are all successful professionals in the United States and felt the need to give something back to the region.

So far the organization has rendered services in Jamaica, Guyana, St.Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, Ghana, and St.Kitts and Nevis last year.

“It was when we were planning the trip last year to St. Kitts and Nevis we heard from Mr. Fidel (Caesar) of the Medical Relief Association with the invitation to come to St.Vincent and the Grenadines. He really had a burden about Canouan and that we get there and deliver care,” said Dr.Williams, while explaining that his team had two other requests.

“And so we sat and looked at the requests that we had and tried to think of where would the skills that we have match the need. We thought that the need was right here. Fidel had made a great case that there was a lot to be done here and so we have been working with him and his team in terms of planning all of the logistics for getting it done,” said Dr. Williams.

Pastor Dermoth Baptiste, Co-ordinator of the St.Vincent and the Grenadines Region of Seventh Day Adventist, said his church believes that health is everybody’s business. He said no one individual, agency or organization can give all the attention or all the delivery that health services require “so it has to be a collaborative effort”.

“The church collaborates with any agency or any individual who is willing and ready to promote good wholesome health and living,” said Pastor Baptiste, adding that the Seventh Day Adventist Church has been at the forefront of health delivery from inception.

“The kind of turnout I have seen here today far exceeds my expectation. We came with the intention of seeing perhaps not more than four to five hundred persons, but there are persons here in excess of a thousand,” said Pastor Baptiste.

The team also had clinics at Her Majesty Prisons, Mesopotamia, Canouan, Barrouallie, Troumaca, Georgetown, and Georgetown.(HN)