THE Ministry of Health on Saturday kicked off their Wellness Week activities with a health fair in honour of Wellness Day. 

The fair was held at Square of The Revolution.
Present at the opening were: Minister of Health, Dr. Bheri Ramsaran; Director of The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Dr. Carissa Etienne; Director, Department of Non-communicable Diseases and Mental Health, Dr. Anslem

Hennis; Chief Executive Officer of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Michael Khan and many other local doctors and nurses.

The Health Fair and the Wellness Warriors were officially opened and launched respectively by Dr. Carissa Etienne, who, in her remarks, said that these are steps taken to make persons aware about all the chronic diseases that are out there and the causes of many deaths in Guyana.
Dr. Etienne also stated that this approach is a “multi-sectorial approach” not just within the ministry, but members of the public must also come together in the fight against these diseases.
At the fair many booths were set up to offer health services, health awareness and healthy products, etc. Some of the booths were mounted by: the Blood Bank, Ansa Mcal, Namilco, the Audiology Department of the Georgetown Public Hospital, The Pan-American Health Organisation/ World Health Organisation’s (PAHO/WHO) booth and many more.
All the booths were flocked by many persons, some of whom were seeking medical attention and used the fair as an opportunity to get it.
The young Wellness Warriors were also highly active in giving out information to persons, making them aware of some of the dangerous diseases and assisting in any way possible.
According to Minister Ramsaran, the Ministry of Health has set out on a project of transforming the Campbellville Health Centre into the Wellness Warriors training headquarters.

This training headquarters will be opened to any youth who is interested in assisting the Ministry of Health in spreading awareness about chronic diseases and also carrying out tests for blood sugar and blood pressure levels.

Some members of the public who attended the health fair said that this was an excellent approach by the Ministry of Health and they think this should be an annual event to keep persons up to date about their health and all the harmful diseases that are lurking around them.

(By Navendra Seoraj)