The Health Sciences Education division of the Ministry of Health, on Friday hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness Walk and Mini Health Fair at the Nurses Annex, located in Fort Street, Kingston, Georgetown, in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
The purpose of The Breast Cancer Awareness Walk and Mini Health Fair was to raise the awareness of the Kingston community regarding breast cancer and other cancers that can affect both men and women, while emphasising the importance of early screening, a statement from the Ministry of Health said.
Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony commended the organisers of the event and addressed the participants on the importance of screening for cancers. Aside from encouraging early screening, he highlighted the various services provided by the Ministry of Health to combat this disease.
In an invited comment during the health fair, Deputy Director of Health Sciences Education, Chandroutie Persaud, expressed her gratitude to all who were present in the morning’s health walk. She noted that that even though the event was aimed at sensitising residents of Kingston, other organisations and government entities showed their support by participating in the health walk.
Among the services provided at the Mini Health Fair were: self-breast examination, visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), nutrition and counselling, adolescent health education, blood pressure testing, high blood pressure (HB), and random blood sugar (RBS) Testing, in addition to a blood donation drive.
Coordinator of the Medex Training Programme, Sarah Daniels, said that “it was the first time Health Science Division hosted a health walk and mini health fair where students from the government’s School of Nursing worked on raising awareness on breast cancer among men and women.”
On behalf of the Health Sciences Education division, Daniels also expressed her gratitude to all who participated in the health walk, especially the staff and officials from the Ministry of Health, public and private sector offices within the Kingston community, cancer survivor, Sister Penelope Layne (Coordinator – Nursing Programme), and other senior officers and staff from the Health Sciences Education division.
