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CCNTV6
  • 2 months ago
Police officers are being urged to take their health seriously as chronic diseases continue to threaten the lives of those in the service. The Police Social and Welfare Association today launched its first health fair at the VMCOTT compound in Laventille.
Transcript
00:00The Police Service Social and Welfare Association in partnership with Guardian Life, the Transit
00:06Police and Health Net Caribbean is rolling out a series of health fairs for officers.
00:12The first event ran from nine this morning to five in the afternoon at the Vemcot compound
00:18off the Beetham Highway. It comes in the wake of the sudden passing of Sergeant Narain last month.
00:24We lost an officer within the last six weeks or so, namely Sergeant Narain and we felt that
00:33because of the work we have done where welfare is concerned and it often went unnoticed that it was
00:41pivotal that we come out and get our officers to come and check their numbers because Mr. Narain,
00:49we saw each other on the 23rd of August and on the 24th of August he died suddenly just so
00:55and checking one numbers is important for us to be able to ensure that you are in a good place
01:04and a good space and you're on top of your health game. Association President Gideon Dixon said too
01:11many officers are succumbing to lifestyle diseases and the initiative is designed to change that.
01:17I think we'll be able to capture a lot a lot of our officers who have often succumb to lifestyle
01:25diseases. It showed up a lot during the pandemic and at this juncture here as an association we have
01:32to take a pivotal and a frontal attack in terms of trying to get our officers within the right mindset
01:39and the right body conditions to be able to do the rigor of the job that we do on a daily basis.
01:45Police hospital doctor Brad Sahadio said the most common conditions he sees are diabetes and
01:53hypertension at the institution. We are rampant, we are rampant with chronic diseases, diabetes and
01:58hypertension. Those are the two major, major illnesses we see at the facility. All right and we encourage
02:04officers to come and get your numbers, know your numbers, initiate early treatment so we could
02:09prevent complications later on, prevent that ultimatum. Guardian Life's agent for the association,
02:16Debbie Ann Mohammed said prevention is key. Our motto I would say in Guardian when it comes to health
02:24is your health is your wealth and we are promoting wellness. So by having preventative screening is only
02:30then we could prevent what happens down the road. And I want my police officers to be healthy and strong,
02:36go out there, do their job to the best. The association says it will lobby for formal health
02:41policy within the police service and plans to take the fair to every policing division in the country.
02:49Today's event was well attended and the association is encouraging officers to participate when the
02:55health fair reaches their districts and that it intends to reach all of the 10 policing divisions
03:01in this country. Alexander Broussoul, TV6 News.
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