The maiden Libyan Health Mela kicked off in the country’s second largest city of Benghazi on Saturday with the aim to create mass awareness about the danger of chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol.

Libyan Health Mela is founded by six medical students with the help of 32 other students under the theme “come and let’s make sure of your health.”  

Founding member Ghada Shatiti said the free one-day health event consisted of stations or cycles where each cycle measured the volunteers’ Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, sugar level and cholesterol level. 

“The volunteer is then directed to have a 1-1 meeting with one of the Mela team to have their risk measured and then to have a little chat about their day-to-day routine and how it can be improved based on the findings.” Shatiti added.

Short lectures about chronic diseases and the ways to manage them were held during the day. A couple of educational videos were also screened to teach the audience more about the chronic diseases.

The event saw a large turnout of citizens who filled the Children’s Theatre, where the event was held, to check on their health and learn how to protect themselves.

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