Children preparing to go back-to-school, along with their parents, and the elderly came out in droves for a free health fair held at the Donald Sangster Community Centre in Summerfield, Clarendon last Sunday.

A total of 245 people coming mainly from the Clarendon North Central communities of Mocho, Rock River and Chapelton accessed comprehensive health checks inclusive of blood pressure and glucose level testing, cholesterol and dental checks. Also, those who turned up with illnesses and were in need of medication had access to free prescriptions, and students had their medicals for school completed.

Member of Parliament (MP) for the Clarendon North Central constituency, Pearnel Charles, told the Jamaica Observer that this year’s staging of what has become an annual event was a success, with numbers exceeding his expectations.

“Nearly 300 people are here and we registered 150 children this morning. We are trying to see how many we can get through by the end of today,” said the seasoned politician and four-term MP for the constituency.

Charles, 83, who also played an integral role in marshalling a cohort of five doctors, including a neurosurgeon and dentist as well as 15 nurses, said the initiative will go a far way in assisting those in need of health care in his constituency.

“I am glad to be able to help them because some people here were saying they have not seen the doctor for a long time. We have a good group of doctors and nurses and other assistance to help us, but we didn’t know that so many people would be here and who are in need of medical assistance as well. But we were prepared for it. We have the medicine and the personnel and we have to stay a long time to get it through with everybody,” said Charles.

His son, Dr Peter Charles, who is a consultant neurosurgeon at the University Hospital of the West Indies, told the Sunday Observer that the lines started building at the centre as early as 8:00 o’clock before the fair was scheduled to open.

“The doctors got here at 9:30 am and there were persons lining up outside long before that. By the time we got here there were about 20 to 30 persons already registered,” said Dr Charles.

By midday, close to 100 people were registered with at least 50 more waiting outside. That number, however, nearly doubled in the afternoon.

“We will close off about 5:00 pm, so we expect more persons,” said Dr Charles. “This is something we have been doing every year for the last seven years. Every summer we come together and do a back-to-school health fair. It involves filling out all the medicals for children returning to school and we also are doing free blood pressure checks, glucose testing, cholesterol testing,” said Dr Charles.

The Heart Foundation of Jamaica, working vis-à-vis the National Health Fund, was on board providing these services. Business development officer at the Heart Foundation Michelle Daley told the Sunday Observer that the event was one of 70 free health fairs to have been hosted islandwide since June.

“We do many health fairs throughout the year but mostly for the back-to-school period. We like events like these because our aim is to reach as much people as we possibly can to inform them about their health numbers and to educate parents and children about the importance of knowing their health numbers, that is your blood pressure and blood sugar levels and cholesterol. We also check the children but with their parents’ consent,” said Daley.

Meanwhile, Dr Charles noted that the health fair provided an opportunity for many residents to access free medication.

“We see a lot of adults coming in and whatever illness they have we will try to sort it out. The key thing is that it is all free and anybody can come and whatever their needs are we will try to help. In terms of filling prescriptions, if they need to be refilled, we have a few medications that, if applicable, we give to persons. If they had been on the medication before and they don’t have it, we restock their supplies just to assist them with cutting down the cost for medication,” said Dr Charles.