As the country wraps up celebrations of Woman's Month this week, the City of Johannesburg hosted a Women’s Healthy Lifestyle Awareness Campaign as part of the women’s month programme on Wednesday, 29 August 2012.
The event took place under the theme “Changing course towards the elimination of poverty: Together contributing to the progressive future that women want”.
More than 1000 women across the City attended the event that mainly focused on promoting women’s healthy lifestyle in totality: physical, mental and socio economic health. It also created a platform for women to network, socialize and restore their dignity and self-esteem.
It was also promoting women’s access to basic health services through health screenings that were conducted on the day, such as HIV testing and chronic diseases of life style e.g. hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol.
Dieticians and Nutritionists shared information on nutrition with women. Healthy lifestyle was also promoted through wellness activities such as exercises.
The First Lady of South Africa, Mrs Bongi Ngema-Zuma, Sophia Williams-De Bruyn a former South African anti-apartheid activist; Cllr Matshidiso Mfikoe: the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Environment & Infrastructure Services; Cllr Nonceba Molwele: the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Health and Social Services; Rihana Moosajee: the Member of the Mayoral for Transport; Cllr Connie Bapela: the Speaker of the Council; Debora Fraser: Gospel musician and the Mayoress Mrs Philisiwe Twala-Tau were among the dignitaries who attended the event.
Mrs Bongi Ngema-Zuma said, “The Bongi Ngema-Zuma Foundation will collaborate with the City of Johannesburg in November 2012 to create awareness about diabetes. We want to encourage people to lead a healthy lifestyle”.
“In South Africa there are between 4-6 million people who are living with diabetes and it does not discriminate. My mother had diabetes for more 20 years and you can control diabetes if you exercise and eat healthy”, said Ngema-Zuma.
Information on common cancers affecting women, especially breast and cervical cancer were also shared by relevant experts. Cllr Nonceba Molwele, the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Health and Social Development said, “In the development of the City’s Growth and Development Strategy (GDS 2040), we devoted much attention to the question how women can be further brought into the mainstream of the City’s economy”.
“We developed strategies to ensure that female contractors receive a growing number of opportunities in areas such as construction, building and infrastructure provision. Our health programmes are aimed at drastic improvements in material and child health”, said Molwele.
The Joburg's Growth and Development Strategy among others addresses the over nutrition and under nutrition of the citizens of Johannesburg. By 2040, the City of Johannesburg aims to achieve substantially enhanced quality of life for all. It envisages development initiatives that enable self-sustainability, improved health and life expectancy and real social inclusivity.
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