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Health Awareness Day 2004
Anuradha Shanmugham
President, Public Health Club
The Public Health Club and
the Campus Health Service at UIS co-sponsored the 6th
Community Health Awareness Day on April 6, 2004. This event was
celebrated as part of the National Public Health Week organized
annually by the American Public Health Association (APHA). The
theme for this year’s National Public Health week was
“Eliminating Health Disparities: Communities Moving from
Statistics to Solutions”. Disparities in health due to race,
ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, geographic location and
educational level present a grave challenge to the health of the
nation. So there is urgent need for action to address this
serious problem.
The Health Awareness Day is
held annually to increase the community’s knowledge on health.
This year, around twenty organizations from Springfield
participated in this event. The American Red Cross had
demonstrations on CPR/First Aid and information on Family disaster
preparedness. Memorial Medical Center did cholesterol testing and
Fit Club conducted body fat testing. The Springfield Veggie
Association gave some valuable information on Healthful living and
healthy diets. There was active participation from various
departments and student organizations at UIS. UIS Environmental
Services addressed the topic of global issues in Environmental
health. UIS Office of Disability Services provided information on
the various disability services available. UIS Counseling Center
focused on Alcohol Awareness and made the public participate in
the fatal vision goggle course. The UIS Clinical Lab Science Club
educated people on interpretations of lab tests. The Campus Health
Service presented a documentary film on Aids in Africa. The Public
Health Club provided some current information and statistics on
Health Disparities in US. The Public Health Club also conducted a
one-day Raffle and gave away exciting door prizes for the winning
tickets.
Various screenings were
conducted as part of the Health Awareness Day. Dr. Baron from
Springfield Clinic conducted testicular and prostate cancer
screening for men. Don Hunt from Springfield Department of Public
Health conducted testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Blood pressure screenings were done by St. John’s School of
Nursing.
The main highlight of the day
was a Mini-Conference on Health Disparities featuring
international, state and local speakers. The featured speaker for
the event was Dr. Mushtaque Chowdhury, visiting professor at
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New
York. He is the Director of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement
Committee (BRAC), an internationally recognized non-governmental
organization in Bangladesh. He gave an international perspective
on health disparities, providing evidence from Bangladesh. The
other speakers were Ray Cooke, the Director of Springfield
Department of Public Health and Gina Whitener the Assistant
Section Chief of the HIV/AIDS Section in Illinois Department of
Public Health. Ray talked about how health disparities existed at
the local level and Gina addressed the issue of health disparities
existing at the state level and how it influenced the health of
the nation.
On the whole, the Health
Awareness Day was a successful event. The event attracted around
200 people from Springfield and surrounding communities and
benefited one and all. The underlying message we wished to convey
through this event was “AWARENESS IS THE KEY TO PREVENTION”.
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