THE Community Relations Branch of the Royal St. Lucia Police Force (Southern Branch) held a community health clinic in Bruceville, Vieux Fort on Thursday which sought to provide a healthy lifestyle for residents.
Residents benefitted from blood pressure testing and screening for diabetes and hypertension and also got an opportunity to ask health-related questions.
The branch, which collaborated with the St. Lucia Planned Parenthood Association and RISE (St. Lucia Inc.), sees Bruceville as a challenged community and a good one to inject knowledge of health care and love.
According to Sylvina James, supervisor of the Community Relations Branch (South), said the clinic was the first of many to come and will not just help improve the health of residents from the community but also improve their general well-being.
“We are trying our best to identify children who need medical attention. They need to be healthy in order to concentrate, read and write. If they can’t do these things, they may be the ones who will drop out of school and end up at Bordelais Correctional Facility,” James told The VOICE.
Dr. Stephen King, President of the St. Lucia Planned Parenthood Association, said the clinic targets mainly children and women and is of immense benefit to the community.
“We need to let residents of Bruceville know that there are people who care about their general welfare so they can live a more successful life,” Dr. King said.
The session with Patricia Biscette of the St. Lucia Planned Parenthood Association was particularly interesting. She explained how the male and female contraceptives are used, birth control methods, and how the various sexually-transmitted diseases are spread and can be prevented, among other topics.
Residents asked a wide range of questions relating to these topics. Many said they learned a lot from the clinic and would appreciate if the police would have more of such sessions in the community.
“I have learned more about how to insert a male and female condom. The session was educational,” a resident told The VOICE.