Port Antonio health fair, symposium deemed a huge success
Published:Monday | April 1, 2024 | 12:08 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
Portland:
The annual Wagglas Foundation Health Fair and Symposium, which attracted hundreds of residents seeking healthcare in Port Antonio, Portland, and its environs, was from all indications a huge success.
Held last Thursday on the grounds of Titchfield High School in the parish, the fair and symposium, which was organised by Wagglas Foundation, comprising past students living overseas and in Jamaica, was aimed at providing quality healthcare to those unable to afford basic health services locally.
“This is the second year that we have come together to assist the local people in Portland, who are known to us as family, friends, and neighbours,” said Cathleen Lyons, a spokesperson for the Wagglas group, based overseas.
“As past students, we though it necessary to give back to the people of Portland and our alma mater in the best way we could and, after much deliberation and consultation, it was agreed that providing healthcare to at least 500 people is probably the best thing. Wagglas Foundation is a group of kids that grew up together in the Portland community. Some of us have migrated and some are still here. This year we wanted to expand the programme.
“This year we have partners on board. So we have Sagicor, Ministry of Health [in Portland], the Lions Club. We have Courts Optical, we have the NHF (National Health Fund), and Food For The Poor. So we are providing more services this year and we have a total of 78 volunteers, including past students of Titchfield and from Wagglas. So it is a collaborative effort, which will make it a success. We also have the Salvation Army, and we are providing care packages and free blood pressure machine to everyone. This is our way of giving back.”
Among the services provided on Thursday were blood pressure monitoring, blood sugar testing (for diabetes), vision testing, dental service, an educational workshop for women’s health, mental health counselling, and body mass index testing.
Approximately 450 people benefited from the healthcare and symposium, with diabetes, hypertension, and poor vision being singled out as the main ailments affecting those who were diagnosed and treated by the nurses and doctors present.
Several former Titchfield students have commtted to ensuring that the health fair and symposium wll continue annually as, according to them, there is a clear need among the less fortunate. Among those former students are Anthony Nelson, Michael Haughton, Dean McFarlane, Burchell Gibson, Gary Sterling, Bonnie Knox, Dayton Ferguson, Dwight Hylton, Michael Graham, Garwin Davis, Raymond Gordon, Dwight Miller, Alec Shilton, Marlise Adiansingh, and Christopher Gilpin, have committed to ensuring that the health fair and symposium will continue annually as, according to them, there is a clear need among the less fortunate.