[www.inewsguyana.com] – Dozens of persons joined a health walk yesterday [August 23], starting from Fifth Street Cummings Lodge and ending at the University of Guyana’s tarmac (UG) to heighten awareness of Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and their prevention.
NCDs include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, diabetes and hypertension; diseases that can be avoided.
The event was coordinated by the Ministry of Health and its Wellness Warriors, and saw participation from UG, Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and members of the health fraternity.
University of Guyana (UG) Registrar, Vincent Alexander said for a while the Ministry of Health has been focusing on raising awareness on NCDs when in fact a lot of persons suffer from them. He urged that persons educate themselves on the causes of such diseases so as to prevent them.
“People need to take wellness seriously, to prevent these diseases, and pay particular attention to their dietary preferences. Work needs to be done to make the society conscious of adapting a healthy life style to deal with issues of obesity, high alcohol consumption levels, smoking etc,” Alexander stated.
Vice Chancellor of the University, Jacob Opadeyi said the activity was a very important one and there is a lot that can be done to prevent NCDs. He added that the University is partnering with the Confucius Institute to bring a professor of Chinese medicine onto the campus.
Also, the university is looking into ensuring that all students are medically tested before they enter the campus. He however, stated that the purpose for the medical tests is just to make the university aware of each student’s medical status but the findings will not hinder a student’s admittance to the university.
Further, well qualified lecturers from PAHO will assist in teaching at the university’s health science faculty, Dr. Opadeyi said. [Extracted and Modified from GINA]
