RESIDENTS of seven targeted communitiesislandwide will be screened for hypertension as part of an initiative to effectively deliver interventions centred around hypertension detection and control.
The St. Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association will tomorrow host a workshop to train both community health care workers and persons with hypertension on methods for blood pressure detection and control.
The workshop is part of the Blood Pressure Control through Community Action (BPCCA) programme—a regional initiative funded by the Government of Australia’s Direct Aid Programme (DAP). The BPCCA seeks to strengthen the capacity and community outreach of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to more effectively deliver interventions centred around hypertension detection and control.
It is expected that at the end of the one-day training workshop the trainees will be able to improve the capacity of the St. Lucia Diabetes and Hypertensive Association to deliver high-quality standardized blood pressure screening, referral and monitoring within target communities.
An estimated 3,000 people will be screened in the communities of Gros Islet, Dennery, Micoud, Vieux Fort, Ciceron, Anse la Raye and Canaries.
The training session will be held at the Bay Gardens Resort tomorrow and is a collaboration between the Government of Australia and the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), and facilitated by the St. Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association in collaboration with the Ministries of Health and Social Transformation.
The BPCCA programme will also be held in Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.