Health News of Wednesday, 2 September 2015

Source: Firm Health Ghana Foundation

4th edition of FIRMWalk 2015 successful

File  Photo: Healthwalk File Photo: Healthwalk

The August edition of the monthly FIRMWalk 2015 which came off on the 29th of August, 2015 at the T&A Park (Tarkwa) has ended with high profile personalities within the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality gracing the occasion.

Over 300 persons from across the corporate world, keepfit clubs, Fire Brigade Ghana, Red Cross Society Ghana, Ghana Prisons Service, Ghana Ambulance Service, Tailors & Dress Makers Association and the Pensioners Association participated in the 4th Edition.

This monthly health event which is geared towards creating more awareness on kidney health and the need to maintain healthy lifestyles comes off on the last Saturday of every month.

This event is used to iterate the crucial role the kidneys play in our bodies and the need to develop interventions to curtail the increase in diabetes and hypertension which are the major causes of kidney failure.

Organized by Firm Health Ghana Foundation (FHGF) in partnership with Space fm (87.7), Dynamite fm (88.9) and sponsored by Washington Rentals and So Nice Drinking Water, the 4th Edition started with a 5KM Health Walk at exactly 5:45pm from the T&A Park through some principal streets in Tarkwa notably, Lowcost road, Hotel de Hilda, Tamso Estate Junction, Efuanta, UMaT, Takoradi Station, Post Office, Banking Lane and back to the T&A Park.

The walk took participants close to 1hr 30minutes to complete.

Physical instructor, Mr. Isaac Sowah Kumah, led the enthusiastic participants through 45 minutes of aerobics exercises amid danceable tunes.

This was followed by 25 minutes interactive health talk session on hypertension delivered by Dr. Joseph Darko.

He commended participants for turning up in their numbers for this health and fitness exercise. He also advised them to engage in healthy lifestyles to realize the benefits of this monthly exercise.

“We must not wait till the end of the month to join the walk instead our mindset towards exercising must change and we should make it a part of our daily activities” he said.

He continued that, hypertension which is one of the major causes of kidney failure is caused by poor eating habits, lack of exercising, excessive smoking and drinking, etc.

He advised participants to periodically go in for check-ups to enable the early discovery of these preventable diseases. Participants were then refreshed with fruit salad.

The whole health event ended at exactly 8:30am.

The next edition is scheduled for September 26, 2015 at the same venue (T&A Park).