Local clubs to participate in health days
The Edenvale club will be joined by the Johannesburg East Rotary Club.
Rotarians for Family Health & Aids Prevention (RFHA) and the National Department of Health are pleased to announce that 110 sites across South Africa have been selected as part of Rotary Family Health Days 2016.
The Edenvale Rotary Club will take part in the Rotary Family Health Days at the site of one of their projects, Manche Masemola Church in Lombardy East.
The Edenvale club will be joined by the Johannesburg East Rotary Club.
The event, now in its fourth year, is a major public-private partnership that offers access to free health screenings and immunisations to vulnerable communities across the country. This year, the aim is to reach 100 000 people.
Rotary Family Health Days will be held over three days from October 12 to October 14.
Free services offered include TB screening, HIV screening and counseling, high blood pressure and diabetes screening, immunisations and more.
Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C educational material will be available at a number of sites.
The National Department of Health provides logistics for the sites, with support from Rotary volunteers.
The story of Rotary Family Health Days goes back to one US Rotarian, Marion Bunch, who lost her son to Aids in 1994.
Determined to turn her grief into a positive force for change, Marion founded RFHA in 2004. In 2013, RFHA launched the first Rotary Family Health Days event in South Africa.
Two years later, Rotary Family Health Days became part of the National Department of Health’s annual programme of activities, with RFHA as the convener and managing partner of the event.
This year, there is a particular focus on adolescent girls and young women as part of the National Department of Health’s strategic plan.
The campaign will fast-track efforts to empower young people, especially adolescent girls and women.
High HIV incidence in young women and girls is compounded by high levels of teenage pregnancy, school dropout, and gender-based violence, and occurs in a context where there are limited economic opportunities for young people.
Sponsorship for Rotary Family Health Days 2016 is provided by Gilead, the California-based biopharmaceutical company.
Media support for awareness of the campaign will be provided by the SABC, Caxton, Independent Newspapers and Media24.
For more information on the site closest to you, go to rfha.org.za.
