Hundreds get tested for heart-related conditions
The open-air testing stations drew massive crowds.
More than 400 residents flocked to Netcare Krugersdorp Hospital to undergo a range of basics tests to check their general health status.
Toddlers to pensioners, and even staff members at the hospital arrived early on Tuesday 30 September to fall in line to have their sugar and cholesterol levels tested at no cost at all.
“The hospital provided the service free of charge for a day as part of Heart Awareness Month. They focus on creating awareness among residents about the dangers and signs of heart-related illnesses and conditions,” explains hospital manager Motlalentoa Motsoane.
Heart Awareness Month is dedicated to raising awareness about cardiovascular disease in South Africa, culminating in World Heart Day on 29 September.
South Africa has one of the highest incidences of high blood pressure worldwide, with one in three people living with the condition.
“Yet almost half of the people affected don’t even know they have high blood pressure,” says Hester Steyn, matron at the hospital.
“So, for Heart Awareness Month we encouraged South Africans to ‘Beat the pressure and get tested’,” she adds.
Motsoane says time and money restraints as well as a fear of the possible test results are the three major reasons why medical tests either are postponed or never done.
He says that through the free testing initiative, medical professionals at the hospital including Lancet and Ampath Laboratories, the hospital’s dietary clinic and physiotherapists such as Ronel Venter, aim at promoting healthy living.
He encourages residents to get tested as a preventive measure and to seek medical care if tests reveal some form of problem.
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