Diaspora umbrella body the Central Association of Nigerians in the UK (Canuk) will hold its first-ever health and wellbeing day on June 29 at Empires Longue restaurant along the Old Kent Road in southeast London.
Organised to promote the importance of health in the Nigerian community, the event will involve the taking of blood pressure, attendees being weighed and all manners of health checks being carried out on those present. There will also be presentations dealing with several of the health challenges that plague the Nigerian community including depression, menopause, hypertension, smoking cessation, the impact of poor finance on health, diabetes and prostate cancer.
Among the speakers who will be talking on the day are Dr Chris Agbo, the president of the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain; Linda Abai, the president of the Association of Nigerian Healthcare and Socialcare Workers UK; Dr Funmi Adewara, the chief executive of Mobihealth International; Gynaecologist Dr Henry Okosun; clinical psychologist Huge Izuchukwu; lecturer Dr Olufemi Oba-Karunwi and tobacco treatment specialist Birsel Ayata. Canuk’s welfare secretary Judy Akuta, will moderate the event.
Ms Akuta said: “This is the first such event of its kind but we decided to organise it because there is a need to emphasise the importance of health. Too many Nigerians in the UK take their health for granted, with many people not even going to the GPs to check for things like blood pressure, cancer screening or diabetes.
“As a community, we have been too lax about these things, so Canuk has decided to take the initiative and make the point that health is wealth and get people to pay more attention to their wellbeing. If more people go for regular check-ups, it would drastically reduce the rates of illnesses and deaths in our community.”
Canuk’s publicity secretary, Rose Graham added: “Health and wellness is about everything, including your diet, how much you exercise and your all round wellbeing. If we paid more attention to these details, it would prevent us having to go to the doctors in the first place, which in turn would increase the number of preventable deaths.”
She added that the health and wellness event will hold from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday June 29 at Empires Lounge, with guests treated to a meal by Canuk. Telemedicine firm Mobihealth has helped sponsor the event and on the day will be handing out its literature, emphasising the importance of diasporans buying its services to helped their loved ones in Nigeria.
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