On Saturday, Homer Health Fair 2006 will be held in the Homer High School commons and gym from 7:30 a.m.-1 p.m. As in past years, it includes Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary and South Peninsula Hospital.
“A number of people, myself included, have found our cholesterol to be high and have taken steps to lower it,” said Files, who is a member of Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary.
As the result of testing done at a health fair, one of Files’ close friends learned he was in the early stages of diabetes.
“Through aggressive treatment, he’s now diabetes-free,” Files said.
He also knows of individuals alerted to prostate issues after being tested at health fairs. At a two-day fair in Mexico that included participation by the Lions Club, 300 people were fitted with eyeglasses. At another Mexican health fair, a full dental laboratory, complete with a staff of 30, provided sets of dentures to some 30 individuals.
At Saturday’s fair, more than 70 health-related businesses and organizations will offer information to the 1,000 people anticipated to visit the fair, said organizer and Rotarian Bryan Zak.
“The theme is ‘health for life,’ so we’re really trying to spread the word on how to have a healthy lifestyle,” Zak said. “It’s not just centered on middle-age or the young. We’re focusing on everybody. It’s never too late to try to start living a healthier life.”
Fair attendees can fill out a survey at the fair’s “Fountain of Health,” and draw for a door prize. A $30 blood draw and comprehensive blood analysis is available. Pre-registration for the blood draw is encouraged and available today at Safeway from 10 am.-6 p.m. Those being tested need to avoid food or drink, except for water, for 10-12 hours prior to the test.
“Any individual taking medication should not eliminate the medication and diabetics should not fast,” said Lon Roop, SPH hematology supervisor.
The tests are sent to a lab in Washington, with results returning as soon as a day later.
“At the fair, people are given envelopes to address, we put the results in the envelope and mail them or they can be picked up here at the hospital,” Roop said.
Two additional tests — one for the prostate and one for the thyroid — also will be available at the fair for $25 each.
A child-care area near the main doors of the high school will enable adults to take advantage of the blood draw and lab tests without the distraction of youngsters.
“We’ll have some crafts and some young people there to play with the kids and watch them,” said Katie Shows, a former Rotarian youth exchange scholar, ambassadorial scholar and participant in a group study exchange program.
Details about senior programs offered in the area will be provided by Friendship Terrace and the Homer Senior Center.
“We’ll have information on assisted living, the adult day care center, meals on wheels and independent housing,” said David Giseburt, housing manager for Friendship Terrace. “We also have a program to assist with the Medicare supplement that has to do with medications, and we have an activities coordinator, do trips to Anchorage and provide lunch for the senior public Monday through Friday.”
Other fair providers will offer information on cancer, exercise, dental care, mental health, nutrition, vision, hearing, brain injuries, blood and organ donation, domestic violence prevention, emergency preparedness, community health, home health, long-term care, water safety and much more.
Not all presenters are from the Kenai Peninsula. A Jayhawk helicopter and crew — pilot, co-pilot, flight mechanic and rescue swimmer — from the United States Coast Guard Air Station in Kodiak, will arrive around 11 a.m., according to Lt. Ben Maule.
“The (Homer) fair started in either 1984 or 1985,” Files said. “Then, in the winter of 1998 or 1999, when the ruble went south in Russia, we knew our friends over there were really hurting. The health situation was really disastrous. We couldn’t solve all their health problems, but thought maybe we could help individuals take responsibility for their own health.”
The idea for a health fair was welcomed by Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary’s sister club in Yelisova, and the first health fair in that area was launched in 2000. Since then, an estimated 200 more fairs have been held in Russia. Last year, a $330,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation was awarded to the Vladivostok Central Rotary Club in partnership with Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary to help expand Russian health centers.
The first Mongolian health fair was held in June. Farther south, Fiji health fairs also have begun, with the assistance of Homer Rotarian Clancy Hughes.
“We help fund the health fairs and the individuals within these countries have carried them out,” Files said.
Currently, club members are considering similar events in the Philippines, Africa, Thailand and India. They also are exploring expansion at the international level.
“We’ve created Health Fair Organization under the Rotary umbrella, but we feel there’s a need to tie into the World Health Organization at some point in time. You have to build a track record first, but we’re getting close to that point,” Files said. “If you’d have told me six years ago that we’d be where we are today, I’d have said ‘yeah, right.’ And yet, here we are.”
McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.
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