Khayelitsha’s elderly will now be able to monitor their heart health thanks to the launch of a mobile clinic by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa.
Cape Town, South Africa (14 April 2021) – The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) today launched its first-ever mobile clinic in Khayelitsha to provide essential preventative health screenings to the most vulnerable members of the community, starting with older persons.
The clinic was launched by the Foundation’s CEO Professor Pamela Naidoo, UCT Chair of Medicine, Professor Ntobeko Ntusi, Ms Sharon Leo from the Western Cape Department of Health and other dignitaries at the Grandmothers Against Poverty and Aids (GAPA) centre in Khayelitsha this morning.
The high-tech mobile clinic was built with grant funding from the National Lotteries Commission. It is the first in an intended series of the HSFSA’s mobile clinics to be launched in South Africa. Its mission is to travel to communities that lack the means to access basic screening and healthcare.
With more new clinics the Foundation hopes to service the country’s most vulnerable communities where there is an increased prevalence of preventable Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), commonly called diseases of Life-Style. NCDs include heart disease, strokes, increased cholesterol levels, diabetes and obesity. South Africa’s most under-served communities often have the highest levels of undetected and preventable NCDs. It is estimated that 70% of heart diseases and strokes can be prevented, yet 225 South Africans are killed by heart diseases every day and nearly 70 die of strokes.
“The mobile clinic we launched today is the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa’s first pilot mobile community clinic in the Western Cape and South Africa. Our trained nurses are ready to conduct Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) on members of the communities where they work, and provide them with helpful information and advice on how to manage their health. Those individuals at risk will be referred for health care and treatment where needed to nearby public and private medical facilities,” said Professor Naidoo.
“In South Africa, non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, strokes and other circulatory conditions, have a high burden of disease, therefore our mobile clinic will assist in educating, informing, diagnosing and referring patients, and in doing so, lessening the strain on our overburdened healthcare system.”
Patients will be specifically educated and informed on the “importance of knowing their numbers” by testing their blood pressure, blood sugar levels, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI), explains Professor Naidoo.
“We know these conditions are also some of the most serious comorbidities for COVID-19, therefore our work is particularly essential at this time. We expect the pandemic to be with us for quite a while and therefore it is vital that we equip vulnerable community members to take better care of themselves in the face of the pandemic,” said Professor Naidoo.
The HSFSA’s mandate as an organisation is to promote healthy living and to fight preventable conditions such as heart disease and strokes in South Africa, the region and globally.
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First for SA! Robotic Legs to the Rescue on Platteklip GorgeThe HSFSA’s mobile clinic’s daily locations will be made accessible to the public via GPS pin locations plotted on social media. Young people are encouraged to inform their parents and grandparents and assist in being social ambassadors for the work of the Foundation. The HSFSA also invites the government, businesses or brands to collaborate with the Foundation to create health awareness around the country.
The mobile clinic will roll out in Khayelitsha at GAPA for the first day and will eventually move around the area to serve as many elderly patients as possible in the first year of operation. The clinic may begin to serve a wider demographic group from its second year of operation.
The clinic will follow strict COVID-19 health protocols to protect those who choose to access the service.
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