MBS to return to Barbuda for Free Health Fair

Free health screenings will be coming to the sister island very soon as the Medical Benefits Scheme is making its way over to Barbuda.

MBS held a similar initiative in July dubbed the Summer Days of Wellness Initiative, and plans are now in the works to return on August 23 with the Barbuda Community Health and Wellness fair.

“It was a week of activities including basic screenings, they had nutrition counselling, they had diabetic foot checks, it’s a long list, they had self-management programs for health conditions, and they also had a yoga session that was so enjoyable and relaxing. If you’ve seen us on social media, you will see that the residents really enjoyed that and because the children are out for the summer, we also had a day camp for the children, and they were involved in activities from physical to meal prepping.

“So, the Barbudans really showed up in their numbers, specifically the men, we saw a lot of the men show up for their health and we’re really proud of them and we want to thank them for their overwhelming support for that community initiative we had there in July and we’re coming back to give them even more. So, if they missed that last one, we have a new one coming and it’s all new activities as well,” Communications and Marketing member Delicia Bonny explained.

According to Bonny, many times because of logistics, Barbudans cannot access specific health care and through fairs and other initiatives like this one, they can partake in these services and for free as well.

Manager of the Prevention Unit, Justina Franz gave details on some of the services that will be offered.

“Well, we’ll be doing the same blood pressure, blood sugar, your cholesterol, height and weight, and the HbA1c screening…You know, you always say that when you do your examinations, you know that maybe if something is abnormal, you’ll be able to deal with it so you can save a life. And so, we’re doing your BMI as well, the prostate examinations. We spoke about the breast examination.

“We’re bringing basic dental care to them as well too. We have the pharmacy counseling. That is something a bit new as well too and with the pharmacy counseling is that you’ll have a one-on-one with our pharmacist to sit and, you know, you’re taking medication, you say, and I take it, boy, make my head hurt me. And you might say, okay, maybe you need to go back to the doctor. Maybe they need to lower your dosage, you know, that kind of stuff. One-on-one, they may ask them, so you bring in a bag of medication. They say, I can’t take this, you know, they have a discussion with you why you’re not taking your medication, and you’ll get more guidance.

“We’ll be continuing with nutrition counseling. So, the nutritional counseling will be in alignment with all the other services that we’ll be offering,” Franz detailed.

The Aid Secretariat will also be doing testing.

The fair will run 9 am to 2 pm at the Holy Trinity School.