A medical team from the Health and Education Relief Organisation (HERO), a US-based non-profit, hosted its first health fair in Georgetown yesterday and emphasised the importance of health education, screenings and preventative care.
The theme of the health fair, which was conducted at the junction of Avenue of the Republic and Robb Street, was ‘Prevention through Education.’ The fair attracted more than 150 people throughout the day.
HERO members ran free screenings for vision, high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and cervical cancer, with additional onsite support from community providers and the Giving Hope Foundation. In addition, they also did free HIV testing and gave lectures on intimate partner violence, nutrition and child abuse. These were all done free of cost.
Dr. Harrison Mitchell, a member of HERO, said that the goal was to provide free accessible care and screenings, which could lead to better long term care but would mainly focus on prevention.
HERO, in partnership with Dr Latoya Gooding from the Giving Hope foundation, had managed to register 70 women beforehand to take the cervical cancer screenings yesterday but according to Dr. Mitchell, a lot of interested persons who weren’t registered were in attendance and it became a bit overwhelming.
He added that persons who were there yesterday and were not seen, will be a priority when the team revisits in August.
Michelle Rodrigues, one of the patients, said that she came from the “very ends of the East Coast,” after she heard about the event from a local radio station broadcast, to take advantage of all the screenings since it is free of cost. She noted that while there were a lot of older folks, there were hardly any young persons present at the event.
Another woman voiced the same thoughts and expressed her encouragement for more people, young and old, to attend these kinds of events and outreaches.
On Monday, March 18, HERO will hold a medical outreach in Sophia, followed by another one at Lusignan on Tuesday, and one at Victoria on Wednesday. The final outreach will be held at Yarrowkabra on Friday. Free consultations and medications will be available to persons interested.
According to Dr. Mitchell, patients will be given more than four months of medication so that the lack of medication won’t interrupt their treatment before HERO’s return in August.
