Healthy success

By Joe Kuttenkuler

Hundreds of health information seekers filled the 1st Floor of the Gateway Building on Feb. 24 as part of the VCU Medical Center's first health fair, organized in conjunction with Black History Month.

Sponsored by the VCU Institute of Women's Health, recently named a National Center of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the health fair featured nearly a dozen exhibits covering a wide range of topics including sickle cell anemia, cancer, coronary disease and women's health. Fair-goers also lined up for blood pressure and glucose checks and kidney disease screenings.

Experts from around the medical center and from local agencies provided the screenings and education during the five-hour health fair.

Information on dermatology, dental health, poison control, organ donation, nutrition, and HIV/AIDS were available as well.

"We know that many diseases are more common in the African American population for a host of reasons, including inadequate health education or lack of access to good health care," said Sheryl Garland, vice president of community outreach for the VCU Health System. "This was an opportunity to provide our staff and the community with vital health information."