Full Woman Health Camp, a one-stop information centre

On Saturday July 17, Daily Monitor treated its readers to a health camp under the theme “Good health, good living.” At such an event where few people knew each other, the atmosphere was quite cold and a warm up exercise from one of Maisha Spa’s fitness experts did everyone good and broke the ice.

Honourable Rebecca Kadaga the Deputy Speaker of Parliament who was the Guest of Honour said; “The health camp is a good initiative and it’s good to know that the Daily Monitor does more than publish news papers but also cares about people’s health.”The camp brought together different experts in various health fields to answer health-related questions and also discuss various issues.

Dr Godfrey Magumba a public health expert and country director of Malaria Consortium was part of the team and he talked about children’s nutrition. His presentation included a clip of how mothers should hold their babies when breast feeding which was appreciated by so many women and thus raised numerous questions in an effort to understand best what he had taught.

Dr Jamal Abduo, a gynaecologist at Paragon Hospital in Bugolobi talked about fertility and discussed the causes of infertility and what can be done about it. He also looked at the advanced technology in the field of fertility like the In vitro fertilisation (IVF) because its usage is increasing and when it needs to be used. He also discussed its negative and positive effects.

This was one of the most active sessions. The questions were many and because of time, he could not answer all of them. No wonder some of the ladies who attended requested that next time, the gynaecologist should be given more time.

For now all the questions that were not answered but were written down will be answered in this magazine (health and Living) and if you did not write yours down, email them to the editor on [email protected]

The Paragon Hospital team and AAR helped people determine their body mass index and advised them on their lifestyle according to their results. These also taught people how to do breast cancer checkups on their own.

Dr John K. Kimbe a dentist at Industrial Medical Services emphasised the need to go for frequent dental checkups. He also talked about how to take care of your teeth and thus avoid tooth decay.

Prof Andrew Otim who works with Kampala Clinic Diabetics Clinic talked to be people about prevention and proper management of diabetes,
The exhibitors included Oriflame, a cosmetics company, Capstone Investments dealers in Secrets Sanitary towels, Comfort Mum International a company that deals in clothes for breast feeding mothers and Maisha Spa and Health Club located at Kampala Serena Hotel who taught people about skin care and fitness.

There was also Serenity Centre (SC), that offers treatment for alcoholics and drug addicts, Uganda Aids Commission who offered free HIV counselling and testing and the Red Cross in partnership with the National Blood Bank who gave people an opportunity to save life by donating blood.

Rwenzori Bottling Company was present to sensitise people about the importance of drinking water. Unilever talked about the importance of washing hands. Standard Chartered bank was also part of the exhibitors and they talked about their accounts like the Diva Club account which has health benefits like free pap smears and subsidised screening plus the Safari Junior account that comes with free dental care for the child and health insurance in case the guardians of the child pass on.
Standard Chartered came along with their partners from the eye clinic department at Mulago Hospital.

There was also a team from ‘Fine Figure 4 U’ which is under Ardyss International that had body magic shape systems, a reducing and reshaping product which when worn will enable you lose two to three sizes in just 10 minutes. Uganda Midwives and Nurses Association and Smile Train were also part of the camp.

To get all this information and a few checkups, one only had to move from one stall to the next. The Full Woman health camp turned out to be a one stop information centre and due to public demand, the Daily Monitor team is considering organising another one. We will keep you posted.