“We are proud to announce that St. Maarten’s Mobile Health Services Bus has arrived bringing us one step closer to a healthier St. Maarten through increased access to health care services. Preventative care is highly important for managing the health of the people of St. Maarten. Many of the top risk factors leading to various illnesses and premature deaths are preventable through early detection and informed healthy lifestyle choices. The bus will be used to increase awareness on the need routine check-ups for all the people residing on St. Maarten in order to change the behavioral patterns of our people when it comes to managing their own health”, said Minister Cornelius de Weever in a press release on Tuesday.
St. Maarten’s new Mobile Health Services Bus was transported from the Port of Galis Bay to the Fire Department on Monday by representatives from Collective Prevention Services at the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development and Labor and Social and Health Insurance (SZV). The bus will be stationed at the Fire Department when there is no outreach activity taking place.
The bus is properly equipped with medical testing and examination facilities that will facilitate the delivery of effective and efficient preventive care. It will be utilized to strengthen the existing programs that are executed by Collective Prevention Services (CPS) and broaden the scope of service delivery. It will also enable CPS to regularly visit communities in order provide health information and screening opportunities in collaboration with local health care institutions. Schedule for deployment to the various communities will be forthcoming.