WBCG MOBILE WELLNESS CLINIC OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED
Top-left to right; Johny Smith WBCG CEO, Tertius Wessels CEP MD: Bottom-left to right; Samuel Taapopi WBCG Wellness Service Project Coordinator, Jakes Mbandi Chairman of the WBCG Wellness Service Steering Committee, Melanie Lombard Community Counsellor, Themba Mthombeni CEP Operations Director, Michelle Steyn CEP Operations Director, Edward Shivute WBCG Wellness Service Programme Manager, and Sarah Fuller MOHSS VTC Coordinator
On the 4th of November 2011, last week Friday, the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG) had an official handover of its Mobile Wellness Clinic which was sponsored by the South African based Corridor Empowerment Project (CEP).The launch which was attended by various members of the WBCG and officials from the Ministries of Health and Social Services, and Works and Transport was held at the TransNamib Palm Tree Park in Windhoek. The Walvis Bay Corridor Group entered into a partnership with CEP (Trucking Wellness), in September 2011, to provide free confidential, anonymous and voluntary counselling and testing services for HIV as well as wellness screening for glucose, cholesterol, haemoglobin, syphilis, hepatitis B, blood pressure and body mass index for employees within the transport industry in Namibia.
The CEP project in particular, although based in South Africa, has demonstrated that its vision of ensuring the wellbeing of transport workers goes beyond the borders of South Africa and that WBCG as its partner in this regard is pleased to be associated with such a visionary institution. The main objectives of the CEP initiative are:
• To obtain an estimate prevalence rate of HIV infection and other chronic conditions within the participating companies and the broader Namibia transport sector.
• Inform the company on what interventions they ought to invest their resources in based on the wellness screening outcome.
• Ensure that individual participants are informed of their wellness and HIV status and where necessary advised to seek further medical attention.
• To receive more appropriate and tailor made support services from relevant stakeholders.
The project which commenced on October 3, 2011 has reached 704 transport workers out of a possible 753 transport workers, which represents a participation rate of just over 93% compared to a 60% participation rate recorded in 2008 during a similar campaign.
The project will primarily cover the deployment of a Mobile Wellness Clinic to various transport companies depots/offices within Namibia, and provide these services to employees while observing minimal operational disruptions at the workplace. This initiative was implemented in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Social Services in Namibia.
According to Tertius Wessels the CEP Director he is thus far impressed with the partnership and the interest expressed by the member companies, and further informed the guests at the handover that there is an overwhelming possibility of a second mobile clinic.
WBCG has been developing wellness projects with much emphasis on HIV awareness and prevention for key affected mobile population since 2005. These projects were and are designed to reach a particular group or groups that are hard to reach with common daily wellness activities and to a group that will otherwise not have enough time to go visit a local clinic and stand in a queue for long hours to get an HIV test or to simply check if they are suffering from high blood pressure. The WBCG has also been providing capacity building trainings to ensure stakeholder engagement and participation to address HIV/AIDS amongst the key affected populations such as long distance truck drivers and their clients.
