#Keready providing free health services for the youth
The movement prioritises the health and wellbeing of young people in Johannesburg south.
#Keready, which launched in February 2022, was initially a youth COVID-19 vaccination campaign with its #keready2flex Challenge.
It has since evolved into a movement that seeks to enhance healthcare-seeking behaviour among young people and improve access to health services. #Keready now offers integrated health services through 46 mobile health units, taken directly to young people.
Six Keready mobile clinics ensure that young people in the Johannesburg area have access to the health services they need. Mobile health clinics are set up in under-resourced areas that have large youthful populations to offer health checks, to screen and test for a variety of conditions, such as sexually transmitted infections, blood pressure, diabetes, and HIV and also provide treatment.
In addition, these units are also available for young people to ask any questions they have about their bodies, periods, pregnancy and family planning. Alternatively, if they aren’t close to a mobile clinic they can WhatsApp a doctor 24/7 on the WhatsApp line 060 019 0000 from anywhere across South Africa.
#Keready is on a mission to ensure that young people are equipped with the knowledge and resources they need to look after their health. By making use of these mobile health clinics and the WhatsApp line, youth are empowered to take charge of their health and make informed decisions.
#Keready’s team consists of 10 young doctors, 95 nurses, a team of communicators and drivers and over a hundred mobilisers who ensure that young people in four provinces (Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape) have access to the health services they need.
Driving this youth-focused healthcare agenda are the Keready doctors who, are themselves youth. They understand the importance of engaging with other young people on their own terms in a language and manner they understand. Through unconventional marketing campaigns, such as TikTok challenges, podcasts, and WhatsApp messages and through their health teams that visit schools and community centres, Keready has seen a significant increase in weekly health checks among young people.
Dr Dakalo Munenyiwa, the young doctor responsible for the Johannesburg district, said: “Young people need to be champions of their health by adopting health-seeking behaviours. We aim to provide platforms for young people to explore this behaviour so they can live healthier lives.”
#Keready empowers all youth to take charge of their health. Check out the Keready website for the locations of the mobile clinics: https://www.keready.co.za/mobile-clinics.
For any questions relating to health, the Keready doctors can also be reached through their WhatsApp line available 24/7 on 060 019 00 00.
Keready hosts weekly TikTok Lives, every Wednesday at 19:00 hosted on their TikTok channel @kereadysa.
There, the doctors address various health topics such as Kidney Health, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Albinism and more.
