SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Scores of people from across Westmoreland turned out in Savanna-la-Mar last Friday, for the 10th annual staging of the Royale Pharmacy’s community health fair, which was held under the theme: “Empowering our Communities Through Health Awareness”.

The fair was held under a huge tent on lands adjacent to one of the branches of the pharmacy, located on Rose St, in the Westmoreland capital.

“Today (Friday) was really, really, very good. I think it is our biggest one. When we look at the other nine (health fairs), we have staged, we had the most attendees this time,” revealed Carol Muschette, managing director of Royale Pharmacy Ltd. “People came back in the end and said how thankful they were. I had quite a few of my clients who came back and said, ‘Thank you for today.’ So, I think it was a success.”

Muschette informed that the idea of hosting a health fair came about a decade ago, when the company constructed its second branch in Savanna-la-Mar.

“When the wellness centre (pharmacy) was realised, I thought that our communities really needed to be empowered with healthy lifestyle choices because, I thought as a community pharmacist, that we really should become a force in advocating for overall healthy lifestyle choices, because when we look on the increase in non-communicable diseases, namely diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and cancer, a lot of these can be prevented,” Muschette argued.

“So, we thought of doing a wellness centre, and as part of our thing, we started with doing a health fair for the community. And, it was so well supported and welcomed by our clients that we decided that we needed to do it annually.”

Pansy Muir, a member of the Savanna-la-Mar United Church, told the Jamaica Observer West that she heard about the event at church.

The senior citizen, who said she is looking forward to next year’s staging, stressed that she would recommend it to others.

“A lot of people cannot afford to have their ECG done, their cholesterol test, some can, but some just cannot afford it, especially the diabetics. So, I definitely recommend others to it (health fair),” expressed Muir, adding, “If had gone out other places, I would have to pay to get stuff done, and coming here today, I don’t have pay for it.”

The company currently has two branches, the first, Royale Pharmacy located on the complex of the Royale Medical Centre, and the second, Royale Pharmacy and Wellness Centre, was established approximately 400 feet from the first establishment.

The pharmacy and wellness centre currently offer a wide range of clinical services, including nutrition counselling, aerobics sessions, blood pressure checks, blood sugar checks, cholesterol testing, haemoglobin testing, as well as prostate and thyroid checks.

The centre also offers ionized detox, therapeutic massage and facials.

All services provided by the pharmacy at the health fair were done free of charge to the public by trained professionals, including doctors, dieticians, eye care specialists, foot care specialists and veterinarians.

This year, as part of the company’s 10th anniversary staging, a number of other features, including veterinary services, were added.

“Today Hi-Pro was here with their pharmacist and also the vet, and farmers were invited and other persons, to take their animals out to see the vet. So, we not only took care of the persons in the community, we were taking care of the animals, as well,” said Muschette.

She noted that her company does not only reach out to the wider community through its health fair, but also offers wellness services to schools, hotels, churches and workplaces in Westmoreland.

The fair was supported by Medimpex, the National Health Fund, Cari-Med, Medical Disposables and Supplies, Health 2000 and Scotia Bank.