Health seminar organisers: Denise Moore, Ken Campbell, Brenda Agard-Alleyne, Carmen Jones, Ingrid John-Baptiste (chair), Jean Marie-Guerrier, Alana A-Brathwaite, David Sutton. Back: Myra Flash, Maxine Grant, Joanne Robinson, Alfredo Eugene Walker, Jennifer Dennis. Volunteers beside David Sutton: Martine Pyle and Shenese Darryl   Photo copyright Black Ottawa Scene

Saturday 21 April

Over  200 people were in attendance at City Hall on Laurier Avenue at the annual health seminar organised and hosted by a coalition of Black community organisations in the national capital. Health topics covered focused on the health health risks faced by people of African descent. Speakers included: Dr. Alfredo Walker, Forensic Pathologist and Coroner: The brain, heart, kidney in diabetes, hypertension & obesity; Dr. Janelle King, Optometrist: Effects of diabetes melittus hypertension and glaucoma on the eyes; Dr. Garfield Miller, Ophthalmologist: Cataracts: Diagnosis & treatment; Dr. Susan Robertson, Anatomical Pathologist: Prostate disease and the Caribbean man; Edwin Nkengla, Medical Laboratory Technologist:  Cervical cancer: Pap smears and cervical screening; Sharon Roberts and Robine Browne: Caribbean myths and beliefs: Barriers to mental health group discussion. 

Community organisations involved in planning the event were: Black History Ottawa,  Guyana Ottawa Cultural Association Inc, Jaku Konbit, Jamaican (Ottawa) Community Association Inc. (Physical Literacy Program),  The National Institute of Jamaican-Canadians, St. Vincent & The Grenadines Ottawa Association, St. Lucia Ottawa Association, The Trinidad & Tobago Association of Ottawa, PSAC-Racially Visible Action Committee and the Young Leaders Advisory Council.

All pics copyright Black Ottawa Scene