Hispanic Health Fair Celebrates Life and Disease Prevention

A Joslin Diabetes Center team draws blood from Latino health fair participants. Latinos are disproportionately afflicted with type 2 diabetes, which can afflict overweight adults and children. (Photos: Eduardo A. de Oliveira, NEWz)

Thousands of Hispanics flocked to Boston's City Hall Plaza on Sunday, July 13, 2008, to participate in the "Celebra La Vida con Salud Y Música" (Celebrating Life with Health and Music) health fair.

The festival, which lured more than 10,000 people in 2007, promotes health and disease prevention among a group that makes up 14 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics are disproportionately affected by diseases like diabetes and HIV/AIDS, too.

Speaking on the day of the festival, Janet Collazo, executive director of La Alianza Hispana, a Boston agency that supports local Latino families, said the fair was expected to topple last year's 6,000 health screenings, worth $300,000. Her estimate was based on a spike in health providers' participation in the fair.

This year's festival marks the second time that La Alianza Hispana has teamed up with Celebra La Vida con Salud, an eight-year-old national Hispanic health education campaign, to organize the fair.

"If one part of America is sick, all of America is going to be affected, whether undocumented or not," said Carmem Ramos-Watson, executive director for Celebra La Vida con Salud.

She said that families were many of the fair participants, with females being 60 percent of them.

In a state where medical care has been a universal right for the past two years, demand for health education is high - as shown by the long lines of people waiting throughout the day to enter the free festival.

"This year we invested in documenting everything happening here. We'll share the numbers with elected officials to...get more support," said Collazo.

The fair was supported by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the Boston Public Health Commission.

Under the long corridor of white tents, dozens of health representatives offered information about a vast array of illnesses.

Jaime Crespo, multicultural affairs officer at Children's Hospital Boston, brought his entire family to share educational details on asthma, diabetes and nutritional facts.

Several families waited patiently for health screenings, such as blood-pressure checks, offered by 40 volunteers.

Irma Bunker, of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, measured blood pressure, while Andreina MillanFerro, educational coordinator for the Joslin Diabetes Center, helped her medical team draw visitors' blood and measure their glucose levels.

When asked how many visitors have high blood pressure, Bunker, who migrated to Boston from Mexico 50 years ago, mimicked, "A lot."

"About 70 percent have high blood pressure. I've been telling them to see a doctor. If they don't have health insurance, they should go to a city hospital, or do something. They can have a heart attack," Bunker said.

Although the lines were chaotic, everyone appeared pleased to finally see a doctor. Many in the line can't afford proper health care, said Dooney John, a pharmacist at South End Community Health Center, located in Boston.

"We're surprised that a lot of people aren't taking medication for [their] diabetes and [high] cholesterol, especially because these [health conditions] are so predominant in the Latino population," said John.

He said that at community events such as this year's fair, physicians can see health trends and also find affordable solutions to help immigrants get care.

Dorchester, Boston, resident Sara Carasquillo was bugged by her family history of heart complications.

"My family history shows a rare heart syndrome that provokes sudden death. But after tests, doctors said everything is fine," said Carasquillo, who was thinking about sending educational booklets she picked up at the fair to her father in Costa Rica.

Gerald Flaherty, vice president of medical and scientific programs at the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Association, said the fair "gives us a chance to address the risk factors to Alzheimer's that affect Latino and African American populations, such as diabetes, hypertension, [heart] disease, high cholesterol and depression."

Flaherty knew the visitors did not fit the typical Alzheimer's patient, those aged 65 and older. About 10 percent of this age segment in the U.S. has the disease.

But he highlighted that 3 to 5 percent of Americans, ages 40 to 50, have already been plagued by the illness, which first "shows" itself through short-term memory loss.

"What's tragic about Alzheimer's disease is most primary care physicians don't recognize it at all, they're so busy treating older patients for chronic diseases of aging. And they think there's nothing they can do. That's why we're here," he said.

While Flaherty was trying to educate Hispanics about not letting a disease be part of their future, Sylvia Saavedra-Keber, Latino initiative manager of Planned Parenthood, was concerned about the present for Massachusetts girls.

"Teen pregnancy is growing in Massachusetts, where 2.8% are pregnant. But if you look among Latinos, this [rate] is [much] higer," Saavedra-Keber said.

She had a message for those parents who think sexual education should not be part of schools.

"The risks of not talking about sex are too high, especially for parents of color....Ignoring this issue gets us to produce kids that we don't necessarily want," said Saavedra-Keber, who also said that a seven-year old girl can be ready to absorb the essentials about sex education.

Ramos-Watson, of Celebra La Vida con Salud, said that in focus groups, Latino youth have countered some parents' fear that talking about sex is promoting sex.

"These focus groups have shown that debating the issue have helped youth understand the ramifications of their choices," Ramos-Watson said.

Outside of the festival's vast white tent, a large stage proved again that Latinos love celebrations. Several local bands performed first, followed by Latin Grammy-nominated Dominican singer Millie Quezada.

Despite the attention the fair's audience paid to catchy songs and quirky dance moves, Ramos-Watson was convinced that the finest tunes come from preventive education.

"Many times an investment may appear as [a] higher cost. But it's like when you buy a home. If you care for it, ensure that its foundation and structure are solid, your home will be healthier for a longer time. "

For her, the question that elected officials need to answer is: Where do you want to invest your money?

"In prevention, the investment is not as huge, or do you want to wait until you have a huge (uncontrollable) national health crisis?" she said.

"The bottom line is: we can't celebrate if we're not healthy," said Ramos-Watson.

Learn more about future health events in the Hispanic communities across the country:

www.laalianza.org

www.celebralavida.com

source: EthnicNewz.org

Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express permission of the news source. Contact Newz for more information.

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WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE CHECKED?
OR WERE CHECKED FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE OR HIGH BLOOD SUGAR (DIABETES)?

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Irma Bunker of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care checked health fair participants' blood pressure. About 70% of Latinos at the fair discover they have hypertension, or high blood pressure, she said. (Photos: Eduardo A. de Oliveira, NEWz)