Rotary Family Health Days offers free screening, Eldos

Rotary Family Health Days 2016 was launched by the Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, on October 12 in Rustenburg.

This is an initiative by Rotarians for Family Health and Aids Prevention (RFHA) and was held in partnership with the National Department of Health across 100 sites nationally from October 12 to 14.

An annual event since 2013, Rotary Family Health Days are aiming to reach 100,000 people this year and included the following free health services:

• TB screening and testing
• HIV counseling and testing
• Vitamin A supplementation and healthy lifestyle information
• Immunization (please remember to bring your child’s immunization card)
• Health screening (blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes and others)

This year’s campaign places a strong emphasis on empowering young people, especially adolescent girls and young women with regards to the high HIV incidence among this age group.

The Eldorado Park community came out in droves to take advantage of the free health screening conducted at the Pentecostal Protestant Church in Eldorado Park Extension Nine from October 12.

Young and old came to be empowered through the vital information gathered after completing a series of screenings. Mariam Jacobs from RFHA said that the campaign put an amnesty on official documentation such as Identity Documents and Road to Wellness Charts required at clinics and sought to be all inclusive by accommodating everyone within the Greater Eldorado Park area, including the surrounding informal settlements.

The Eldorado Park site is managed by the Rotary E-club of South Africa D4900, of which Annemarie Mostert is the media head.

Mostert said, “We provide the knowledge around certain conditions which are prevalent within communities and empower communities by making these manageable.”

After only the second day of the campaign, 632 residents came for their free health screenings and YFM personalities like Dj Melo added her weight to the campaign checking her health.