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for the public to receive health screenings and consultations for blood pressure, osteoporosis, glucose, cholesterol, healthy diets, diabetes, dental, pain, asthma, smoking, and balance and fall prevention.
“This is the perfect opportunity for attendees to meet doctors who are well-versed with the unique needs of Filipino patients during curbside consultations,” says participating BCWW physician Dr. Charlie Sonido.
The free health fair is meant to increase public awareness as preventive measures of diseases as well as to raise awareness of the availability of free health care facilities.
“BCWW has been doing the Filipino Fiesta’s Community Health Fair for the past 15 years to serve the people and to let them know about the free services they can get from BCWW,” says Dr. Nic Joaquin.
Dr. Joaquin encourages those who plan to attend the Fiesta to take full advantage of the free tests.
“They should have fun but also have their blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol levels tested and checked,” he says. “Some patients are hesitant to go to doctors’ clinics but this is a way to have them checked for illnesses which they may not be aware they have.”
According to participating BCWW physician Dr. Arnold R. Villafuerte, Filipino doctors are passionate about giving back to the community via community health fairs because they understand and know that health care is expensive and a burdensome problem that the government hasn’t solved yet and cannot solve alone.
“Community health fairs also bring communities together to learn safety and to live healthier and more active lifestyles,” he says. “Without these free health fairs, those who are underserved, poor and needy end up in hospital emergency rooms, thus costing the state more money.”
Participating organizations and businesses include Clinical Laboratories Hawaii, Diagnostic Laboratory Services, Philippine Medical Association of Hawaii, PMAH Foundation, PMAH Ohana Medical Missions, Hawaii Filipino HealthCare, United Health Plan, Ohana HealthCare and Yeoh Muranaka Radiology.
BCWW was founded in 1997 by a group of Philippine-born and trained physicians who established a clinic on Oahu that began providing much needed medical and dental services at no charge to those with no health insurance. The Filipino Fiesta’s Community Health Fair is one of several free health fairs statewide that participating BCWW physicians annually sponsor. Other health fairs are held on Lanai, Molokai, the Big Island, Maui, Kauai and Oahu.
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