Free community health fair planned
Free screenings for a wide range of health issues will be available to the community once again this year.
The 20th annual Health Initiative for Men & Women is set for 8 a.m. to noon on Aug. 20 at the Floyd County Health Department, 16 E. 12th St. It’s hosted by the 100 Black Men of Rome-NWGA, Inc., with the Northwest Georgia Regional Cancer Coalition as a cosponsor.
“We will offer free screenings for blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, prostate cancer, skin cancer, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer — and vision and dental screenings will be available,” said Allison Agnew, program coordinator for the cancer coalition.
There also will also be HIV testing, B12 injections and covid vaccines, along with free at home COVID-19 tests and cloth masks that will be given out on a first come, first served basis. The Floyd Mobile Mammography Unit will also be at the event.
“The mobile mammography is the only screening that requires an appointment,” Agnew said. “To make a mammogram appointment, participants should call 706-509-6840 and choose Option 1.”
Formerly known as H.I.M., the health fair started out as a way to encourage men to get preventative screenings and has been expanded over the years to include women.
In 2000, Larry Morrow Sr. and Curtis Adams learned at the 100 Black Men of America’s annual conference that Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer, less likely to get screened, and more likely to die from the disease. They contacted Dr. James Crane, a Harbin Clinic urologist, and launched the initiative.
“We had about 30 participants when we first started H.I.M. in 2001 . ... Now, we average over 300 participants each year,” Adams said.
Morrow has been an especially strong supporter of the event, which he credits for likely saving his life.
“If I hadn’t participated in the prostate screening, I may have never known I had a cancerous tumor until it was too late,” he said. “That’s the thing, you have to be proactive rather than reactive. Men don’t always think about that and can be resistant, so we encourage the women in their lives to get them to come get screened.”