Southeast Mississippi Rural Health Initiative, Inc. celebrates National Women’s Health Week

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - SeMRHI will host its annual Free Check-up Day in observance of National Women’s Health Week (NWHW) on Wednesday, May 16 at the Women’s Health Center located on 62 Old Airport Road, Hattiesburg, MS. NWHW is led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health to encourage all women to be as healthy as possible.

As a network of community health centers SeMRHI is deeply rooted in grassroots efforts to reduce health disparities. Though preventive healthcare is often overlooked, it is the key to preventing the onset of many chronic conditions that plague Mississippians such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease.

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health more than 700,000 Mississippi adults have high blood pressure (hypertension), and thousands more may be at risk. High blood pressure increases a person's risk of heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States. It can also lead to kidney disease, blindness, and mental impairment.

In 2016, Mississippi ranked first in the nation for overall diabetes prevalence, with an estimated 308,295 adult Mississippians living with diabetes (over 13.6% of the adult population). Consequently, diabetes accounted for 1,083 deaths in Mississippi in 2016.

For this reason, SeMRHI has reached out to numerous local and community partners to promote the event in hopes of attracting the medically underserved. Last year the Women’s Health Center provided approximately 117 free medical screenings to health fair participants.

The City of Hattiesburg will present a proclamation for National Women’s Health Week at the press event to be held at 10:00 a.m. at the Women’s Health Center on Wednesday, May 16.