Michael Bernard, President of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, addresses residents of communities near to the Mona Campus of the UWI at the launch of the Jamaica Wellness Tour at the UWI Health Centre on April 10.
HUNDREDS OF residents of Hermitage, August Town and other communities close to the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, received free medical tests last week from the 'Jamaica Wellness Tour' that was officially launched at the UWI Health Centre on Monday, April 10, 2006.
The 'Jamaica Wellness Tour' is a project of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains in association with the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ), Blue Cross of Jamaica Limited (BCJL) and the Diabetes Association of Jamaica (DAJ).
MOBILE CLINIC
For this first leg of the 'tour', the Shipping Association of Jamaica's mobile clinic was based at the parking lot of the UWI Health Centre from April 10 to 13, providing health tests to the university population and residents of surrounding communities.
At the launch, Professor Errol Morrison, President of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, states that the objectives of the 'Jamaica Wellness Tour' are:
To provide medical screening facilities to those persons who face the greatest challenge in accessing such services, and
To increase the awareness of Jamaicans for the need to adopt healthy lifestyles and preventive approaches to personal health care.
In his address at the launch, Michael Bernard, president of the SAJ, noted that when his organisation made the substantial investment of procuring this Mobile Clinic some years ago, it was their expressed intention that it would serve not only the Port Community but also other Jamaicans in need of medical attention.
QUALITY HEALTH SERVICE
"Since then", Mr. Bernard continued, "thousands of Jamaicans residing in inner-city communities have received medical tests and treatment from the SAJ Mobile Clinic and today, we are happy to be a partner in another meaningful project that will provide quality health services to our Jamaican brothers and sisters."
BCJL, the SAJ and the DAJ provided medical personnel, equipment and supplies for the medical tests that included: heart and blood pressure tests; eye screening, blood sugar tests, cholesterol level tests, and hearing tests.
The 'Jamaica Wellness Tour' will be taken all over Jamaica during
the year.
