Emdad Rahman: Hundreds of residents flocked to get free health advice and checkups as the Brady Centre hosted the annual The hugely popular and successful event is run entirely by volunteer medical students from King’s. “It’s a well received annual event,” said Jamil Ahmed. “We have had a steady flow of locals turning up all day long.
Each year this event proves to be a huge success, during which volunteers reach out to the local community, providing vital but basic information on health issues including diabetes, oral hygiene and heart disease.
The volunteers are professionally trained beforehand to take basic healthcare checks such as blood glucose level, blood pressure etc.
”I always attend this event,” said Neha Sultana from Brick Lane. She added; “The young volunteers are full of energy and the advice and dedication is most welcome.
“These people are from within the community. We must support them to stay and work with our community rather than elsewhere.”
Rumaana agrees; “I have really enjoyed this health check, which is not something one would usually say. The presentation by Shafiul was very informative, along with the summary he has provided after the healthchecks have been completed.
“The volunteers have been immense and I hope they can receive support to arrange many more of these events.
During the day, attendees queued and participated in a series of tests to check their blood pressure, BMI Index and Diabetes levels.
King’s College London Bangladesh Society President Nadia Nuru said; “Ill health amongst the Bangladeshi community is rife – we are confident that the easy manner in which we have shared information has been successful.
“The response has been tremendous. This is our contribution towards supporting the wider community and we hope to expand the frequency of such events in the future.
“South Asians, and in this case Bangladeshi diets are a root cause for the illnesses that effect these communities,” said Shafiul, the senior student from amongst the cohort.
“We are not here to read the riot act to local residents, but to provide balanced health advice and recommendations.
“It makes a great deal of difference when information is shared whilst keeping sensitivities in mind. The feedback has been very good.”
Diabetes and obesity are common illnesses within Asian communities.
In April 2010, Researchers from the University of London detected early warning signs of Type 2 diabetes in the blood of otherwise healthy British Asian children.
The findings were particularly important in light of the growing incidence of Type 2 diabetes worldwide, and they suggest that at least some of the causes of ethnic differences in the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes are working before adult life.
Around three million people in the UK have diabetes. South Asian people in the UK are about three times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than white Europeans.
In an interview with the BBC regarding medical help to lose weight, James Halstead, a consultant bariatric surgeon stated; "Based on the numbers of Asian people living in Bradford, they suffer from disproportionately higher levels of obesity - so we should be seeing far more of them in our clinics.
"I believe that many don't come forward for help with losing weight because being overweight is more accepted within the traditional Asian family unit.
"But as a result of being overweight, Asian people suffer from greater levels of illness, such as diabetes, heart disease and kidney problems."
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