August 4th, 2009 

Residents of the community of Salisbury have been advised to take responsibility of their health and utilise the services offered to prevent chronic non-communicable diseases.

A Health Fair at the Salisbury Primary School on Sunday was the first event planned by the Salisbury Enhancement Committee (SEC) as part of their first anniversary celebrations.

In his remarks, Chairman of the SEC Curth Charles noted that a “staggering” amount of persons suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes according to the village’s health records.

“Ten percent of the residents of this community suffer from high blood pressure, and four percent from diabetes. While these numbers are extremely staggering, we view this as a rather dire situation. It is clear that as a community, we have to invest more intently in preventative care so we can avoid the occurrence of illnesses and diseases to begin with. To do this, we must take more responsibility for our health...” Charles said.

He also asked parents to be mindful of the foods their children consume, and nurture them to become more physically active as opposed to living a “sedentary lifestyle”. “It also means consuming very little of the junk foods that fuels an epidemic of obesity, and puts far too many individuals- both young and old, at greater risk of costly, chronic conditions,” the Committee’s chairman added.

According to Charles, he is hopeful that Salisbury residents will become better informed stewards of their health, and use the knowledge gained at the Health Fair as a stepping stone into the future.

One potentially dangerous situation was averted. when one patient was referred for medical treatment, while several other persons got the opportunity to have their weight, blood pressure, blood sugar,  cholesterol and triglyceride levels checked.

In attendance at the event were Nutritionist Nurse Pricilla Prevost, representatives from the St. Joseph health team including Family Nurse Practitioner- Nurse Fabian, Environmental Health Officer for the district Mrs. Clama Louis, Nurse Denise EdwardsCommunity Health Nurse – Nurse Cuffy, District Medical Officer – Dr. Jefferey, District Nurse – Nurse Agatha Shillingford, Jolly’s Pharmacy representative- Selma Louis, and from the Dominica Dental Association- Dr. Bertina Louis.

Photos in the gallery.