February 23, 1995
An estimated 700 students of all ethnic backgrounds benefited from a health fair Feb 16. intended to promote preventive health care and awareness for the African-American community at SF State.
The mixed crowd of students took advantage of free services including dental check-ups, body fat measurement and acupuncture sessions.
Marilyn Wong, director of the department of preventive medicine at the Student Health Service, was pleased with the multicultural turnout at the Second Annual African-American Community Health Fair.
"It has been the commitment of the department for the past two years to reach a lot of different cultural backgrounds," Wong said.
Fair organizer and Health Educator Kamal Harb agreed, adding that although fairs and workshops have a focus group, they are really open to everyone, creating a sense of "harmony."
Drawing attention to the fair, a van sponsored by KSOL radio station played music for crowds of students throughout the day in front of the Cesar Chavez Student Center. KSOL, in conjunction with the Judie Davis Marrow Donor Recruitment Program, gave away T-shirts to students willing to be screened as future bone marrow donors. The effort paid off with 24 volunteers agreeing to be screened.
The program is named after an African-American woman who died at the age of 39 because she was unable to receive a bone marrow match from someone of her own race. Statistics show that only 17 percent of the 1.4 million donors are African-Americans, Asians and Hispanics, according to Dr. Tony Shelton, the Bay area recruitment director of the program.
"This is something that is race specific and there is a critical need for ethnic donors," Shelton said.
This year's health fair attracted 26 organizations offering information and services, compared to only 12 last year. The Black Coalition on AIDS, the National Black Alcoholism Council and the Sickle Cell Center all took part in the mid-day event.
Depending on what services students were seeking, they would go behind "the blue curtain" of their choice to have acupuncture needles inserted in their ears or have their body fat "pinched" and measured.
One student, Bilal Habebualah, recently changed his diet and was curious about his body fat.
"It was better than I thought," Habebualah said after it was determined that he fell into the "athletic" category.
According to the American Heart Association, African Americans should be concerned about diets high in fat because studies show that heart disease is their top killer.
SF State Professor Agnes Morton, who teaches Health, Medicine and Nutrition in the Black Community, spoke about her concerns at the health fair.
"Life expectancy for blacks went down in 1989," Morton said.
She blames this statistic on several factors including a high infant mortality rate (twice that of whites), lack of health care accessibility and the high homicide rate. Death and health risks "from all causes" for African Americans under the age of 45 are "nearly double" that of whites according to a study by the National Center for Health Statistics.
One African-American student, Maurice Lewis, was disappointed that more African Americans were not taking advantage of what the fair had to offer.
"People feel they are impervious and don't do anything until it is too late," Lewis said. "It is a shame the (KSOL) van is getting more attention than the fair."
The fair was sponsored by the Student Health Service, black studies department, Black Faculty and Staff Association and Pan-Afrikan Student Union.