Activities being Planned for Health Month in St. Mary

Several activities have been planned in St. Mary to celebrate Health Month in April.
Dr. Isaac Brown, North Eastern Regional Health Authority (NEHRA) Parish Manager for St. Mary, told JIS News that events would include a church service at the Port Maria United Church on Sunday, April 2; community meetings in Rock River, Annotto Bay, Windsor Castle, Retreat and Oracabessa; drain cleaning and beach cleaning in Port Maria, and a Health Food Fair at the Port Maria Hospital, and Staff Welfare days.
He pointed out that the activities would be held under the theme: ‘Your wealth lies in your health: protect it’, and the main objective would be to sensitise residents about the importance of embracing healthy lifestyles in order to maintain good health.
Dr. Brown said the community meetings were specifically organized to involve the participation and support of the people of the deep rural communities of the parish, so they could be informed of the importance of maintaining good health and its relevance to national and community development.
He pointed out that the activities would be integrally linked to efforts of the St. Mary Health Department to sensitise the people of the parish to adopt healthy lifestyles to ensure good health, in order to help reduce the strain on the national budget to provide treatment for the increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases affecting the population.
Dr. Brown said the Health Food Fair in Port Maria and the Staff Welfare days in the Port Maria, Gayle and Annotto Bay Health Districts, would provide information and treatment through a number of presentations and medical tests to enable them to not only take the best care of their health, but to also assist others in their communities.