Left: June Spence, principal of Wolmer's Prep, welcomes the Jamaica Wellness Tour to her school on Monday, November 13. Seated (from left) are: Winston Barnes, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains; Professor Errol Morrison, president of Blue Cross Jamaica, and Michael Bernard, president of the Shipping Association of Jamaica.   Right: Students, teachers and Rotarians learn the importance of a healthy lifestyle during the launch of the Jamaica Wellness Tour at Wolmer's Prep last week. The tour provides low-cost medical tests and is a joint project of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, the Shipping Association of Jamaica, Blue Cross Jamaica Limited and the Diabetes Association of Jamaica. - Contributed Photos

The Jamaica Wellness Tour that was officially launched in April 2006 has moved on to the Wolmer's Prep and High schools. Students there have been receiving low-cost medical tests in the Shipping Association of Jamaica's (SAJ) mobile clinic since November 13, and the clinic will continue to serve the schools during this week.

June Spence, headmistress of Wolmer's Preparatory School, welcomed the clinic on Monday, November 13, and praised the sponsors and organisers of the Jamaica Wellness Tour for their initiative in promoting preventative medical care to the students.

The tour is a project of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains in association with the SAJ, Blue Cross of Jamaica Limited (BCJL) and the Diabetes Association of Jamaica (DAJ).

First leg

On the first leg, the SAJ's mobile clinic was based at the parking lot of the University of the West Indies Health Centre from April 10-13, providing health tests to the university population and hundreds of residents of surrounding communities such as August Town, Hermitage and Tavern.

The second stop of the tour was at the New Providence Primary School in Liguanea during May, where tests were offered to the school population and the surrounding communities.

The third stop of the Jamaica Wellness Tour was at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and it next went to the Holy Trinity Cathedral. At these sites, the clinic provided services to the residents.

At the launch of the fifth leg, Winston Barnes, president of the Rotary Club of Liguanea Plains, noted that the Wellness Tour was keeping with its objectives of:

Providing medical screening facilities to those persons who face the greatest challenge in accessing such services;

Increasing the awareness of Jamaicans on the need to adopt healthy lifestyles and preventive approaches to personal health care.

Heartened

In his address at the launch, Michael Bernard, president of the SAJ, noted that his organisation was heartened to see its mobile clinic "playing an integral role in bringing health services to those most in need".

BCJL, the SAJ and the DAJ are providing medical personnel, equipment and supplies for the medical tests that included: heart and blood pressure tests; eye screening, blood sugar tests, cholesterol level tests, and hearing checks. Solid Insurance Brokers has contributed strips for blood sugar tests.

The Jamaica Wellness Tour will be taken all over Jamaica during the year.