Free car wash and health check

Car washers left from front: Black Chen, Connie Leon, Nicki Hsu, Sister Preston and Elder Preston. Washers right from front: Jeff Lin, Yitha John, Tanner Smith, Dr. Lusiana Manoa, Edward Konelious.
Car washers left from front: Black Chen, Connie Leon, Nicki Hsu, Sister Preston and Elder Preston. Washers right from front: Jeff Lin, Yitha John, Tanner Smith, Dr. Lusiana Manoa, Edward Konelious.

The head of the Non-Communicable Diseases Clinic at Majuro Hospital, Dr. Lusiana Manoa, reports that diabetes is still a huge problem in Majuro, with 2,222 registered patients. Of these, 1,365 diabetic patients have not visited the clinic within the past year, putting themselves at risk.

For this reason, the NCD coalition group “Community Lifestyle Program” held the island’s first free car wash for taxi drivers on Thursday last week. The coalition is made up of teams from the Ministry of Health, Taiwan Health Center, LDS charities and the Wellness Center who washed over 40 cars during the event at Delap Park.

But this wasn’t your typical car wash: In exchange for a free car wash, the taxi drivers were given a health screening that showed their blood sugar and blood pressures. According to the Wellness Center’s Director Tanner Smith: “Thirteen percent of the drivers showed high blood pressure and 33 percent showed diabetes.” Some of these drivers were asked to follow up with the NCD clinic to have further tests.

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