The May Measurement Month is here with us once again and I am so excited. My organization Stowelink joins hand with the Kenya Cardiac Society and the International Society Of Hypertension and its partners to once again implement the May Measurement Month activities. In Kenya, Stowelink is coordinating the national campaigns with support from the Kenya Cardiac Society ensuring that all partners across the country have been trained and are conducting blood pressure screening activities. Locally, Stowelink is screening in the slum areas of Githurai 45 where we are offering blood pressure screenings, medical consultation and referral services every Sunday for the next 4 weeks. Our volunteers continue to be a crucial part of the screening process ensuring that they help in making these critical health services available to the members of the slum communities.
So why am I so excited about the activities of this project? One of the major reasons why I am so excited about this is the fact that every year cardiovascular diseases are still the leading killer diseases in the world yet a lot of the world population is not getting screened for high blood pressure early on. By actively screening thousands each year with the may measurement month I feel my contribution towards reducing this burden and that makes me proud. What makes me even prouder is that I’m doing this with a young team and we are proving services right inside the slum areas where people need them the most. This year we target at screening 2000 people within the month with our team and we are positive that we will hit the target.
May Measurement Month is a global blood pressure screening awareness campaign, launched in 2017 by our founding partner, the International Society of Hypertension. Our aim is to highlight the importance of measuring your blood pressure (BP) and to raise awareness of the dangers posed by elevated BP and hypertension. Our target is to increase the numbers of participants aged 18+ who are regularly getting their BP checked and to give people the tools to understand how this information can contribute to your knowledge about your individual health. MMM also provides diet and lifestyle advice to those with BP in the hypertensive range and to facilitate improved follow up for sufferers.
#ogwenoimpacts
STEPHEN OGWENO 