500 Persons Attend Health Fair in Southern St. James

Approximately 500 residents from Maroon Town and surrounding communities in Southern St. James participated in a community health fair yesterday (July 18). The event was put on by the St. James Public Health Services at the Mount Edmondson Methodist Church grounds in Maroon Town.
The health fair was the third in a series of four community outreach activities, aimed at educating citizens about their mental health. They took part in depression screening, blood sugar/pressure checks, HIV/AIDS education and health education.
Other supporting agencies, such as the Registrar General’s Department (RGD), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and Jamaica National (JN) Small Business Loan Department, were on hand to educate citizens on other aspects of their total development.
Health Education Officer at the St. James Public Health Services, Serena Holder-Campbell, told JIS News that the health fair was carried out specifically to assist persons to understand more about their mental health and how they could assist in enhancing their total health development.
“We realize that people are not comfortable to talk about their mental state and we feel that having this series of activities throughout the parish would create more emphasis on not just being a ‘mad’ person, but looking realistically at your mental state as your complete well being,” she said.
“We also invited the other agencies to share about the registration of births and deaths and how people can release some of their stress level, especially when they are not employed, by starting a business of their own, which we feel is a part of their entire well being,” Mrs. Holder-Campbell added.
She further informed that the St. James Public Health Services had planned to educate over 10,000 persons on their mental health and wellness throughout the four outreach programmes, the last of which is scheduled for Sam Sharpe Square in Montego Bay on July 27.