Huge Ramadan event sees women learn more about screening and vaccinations
Hundreds of women and children descended on the Cardiff City Stadium for a special Ramadan celebration that also gave guests vital public health information.
The Healthy Lives event, held on Wednesday, 27 March, offered women of Islamic faith the chance to find out more about the importance of breast, cervical and bowel screening, as well as childhood vaccinations.
A panel of experts - from GPs to paediatricians to public health specialists - took to the stage to answer a variety of health-related questions and dispel myths which had perpetuated in some communities.
Dozens of organisations from the third sector, local authority, the police and the health service held stalls around one of the stadium’s conference rooms to provide further information and advice to those in attendance.
A bouncy castle, giant Connect 4 and Henna artists kept the children entertained throughout the afternoon, and at sunset (Maghrib) a meal (Iftar) was provided to allow people to break their fast.
Women living in three of Cardiff’s primary care clusters – East, South East, and City and South - were specifically invited to attend as these populations have among the lowest screening and vaccination rates in the city.
Bablin Molik, Lord Mayor of Cardiff and the first woman of colour to hold the prestigious title, opened the event and said: “As a woman, I understand the importance of good health, both for myself and for my family and those around me.
“Sometimes, however, good information can be hard to find or hard to understand, and we need to be properly informed in order to make decisions that might affect our health. This event will help women gather some information, ask questions, and hear from experts in health and wellbeing.
“In Islam, the preservation of health and wellbeing is highly emphasised. Muslims are encouraged to take care of their physical health as it is considered a trust from Allah (God). Therefore, initiatives aimed at promoting health and wellbeing, such as vaccination and screening programmes, are viewed positively within the Islamic community.”
The expert panel for the event included:
Dr Amara Naseem, Cardiff Bay Surgery, Grangetown and core member of Muslim Doctors Cymru
Cheryl Williams, Principal Public Health Practitioner, Cardiff and Vale Local Public Health Team
Dr Meena Ali, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Cardiff and Vale UHB
Dr Assim Javaid, Paediatrician, Cardiff and Vale UHB
Helen Jessop, Senior Screening Engagement Specialist, Public Health Wales
Dr Sayma Ahmed, GP Partner at Cloughmore Surgery in Splott and Core Member of Muslim Doctors Cymru, chaired the panel discussion. She said: “Within some of our communities, uptake for things like screening and immunisations are a lot lower than the average. We felt that if we could bring our communities and our healthcare professionals together, we could hopefully dispel a few myths and empower patients to really feel confident to take them up when they’re offered to them.
“Screening saves lives. We know many cancers are not detectable because they simply don’t present with symptoms, and there are various cancers that, by the time their symptoms present, it’s too late to do anything about.
“With bowel, breast and cervical cancer specifically, if we can pick them up at an early stage through screening, we can get earlier intervention and get a better prognosis.
“It’s also really important for children to have their routine immunisations. We have a fantastic schedule offered via the NHS and public health which is free for everybody. There are children in other parts of the world dying from infections that we are able to prevent here in the UK.”
Sheila Williams, Cluster Project Development Manager for the South East Locality and one of the organisers of the event, said: “The purpose of the day was to come along, celebrate Ramadan, have a really lovely evening together but also send people away more informed.
“It’s absolutely vital for us to make connections with communities, to network and collaborate with them to find out what barriers there might be to accessing screening and vaccinations.”
To find out more about childhood immunisations in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, please go here or the Public Health Wales website here. For more on screening please go here.