LILLIPUT, St James – More than 170 residents of the Lilliput community benefitted from a free health fair organised by the Seventh-day Adventist Church through its Global Adventist Internet Network (GAiN) conference, which was held from July 4-6, 2019 at the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach hotel.

The health fair, which was staged at Lilliput Community and Resource Centre on Sunday, July 7, was a collaborative effort among the Westen Jamaica Conference (WJC) Transforming Lives Foundation Limted, Three Angels Mobile Clinic and the Lilliput Seventh-day Adventist District of Churches.

Communication director of the Jamaica Union of Seventh-day Adventists and GAiN organiser Nigel Coke said the fair was a way to give back to the community.

“Many of the residents were not able to come to the conference but we know there are health challenges all around. So we went the health route of giving back to the community in which the GAiN conference was held because everyone wants to be healthy and healthy lifestyle is very important to Seventh-day Adventists,” Coke said.

Services included ophthalmology, pediatric and dental care, eye testing, cholesterol and blood pressure checks, body mass index checks and healthy lifestyle education.

Five doctors, one counselor, 12 medical missionaries and several nurses and support staff were present to deliver health care and advice. The Three Angels Pharmacy Mobile Clinic was also on location.

One of the first patients to be treated was Joan Campbell who needed help for pain.

“I prefer to come here [than other health facilities]. You don’t have as much crowd and you don’t have to wait long. The service is good; Dr Gilbert is nice,” she said.

Other patients felt that the initiative is a great thing for the community because it gives people easy access to much needed healthcare.

Elder at the Lilliput SDA Church and medical missionary, Mark Nembhard said the fair is another in a series of health outreach programmes that have been carried out by the WJC since April of this year. He says persons have seen improvement in their health after visiting the fairs.

“We recheck people after the fair and you can see improvements in many of them with regards to cholesterol levels, blood pressure, diabetes etcetera. We come back and check people here or we send them to the wellness center in Montego Bay. Dr Matthew O’Connor comes to the Lilliput Adventist Church every last Sunday of each month and checks persons to see how they are doing,” Nembhard said.

Attendees could visit various booths while they waited to be seen. Booths included Lasco Distributors and Financial Services, HEART College of Hospitality Services, Jamaica Bedding Co., NCU FM and Inter-America Division Publishing Association.