In a bid to improve the health and wellbeing of the members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature and its employees, the provincial parliament is holding a two weeklong wellness programme.
The programme is also designed to inspire millions of citizens in the province to go and have their health statuses checked in order to address various ailments that could be attacking them and address those that have already set in.
The programme is viewed as part of the legislature’s health and safety initiative which is designed to boost the employee morale, loyalty and productivity. The primary purpose of the exercise is to enhance the health status of the organisation, reduce chronic diseases and mitigate its debilitating impact on personal lives and organisational productivity, improve employee health lifestyle.
Since the programme started earlier this week more than forty members of the provincial Legislature have already undergone various assessments including HIV and AIDS tests, TB screening, eye screening and cancer awareness.
They have also been educated on physical wellness promotion, heart rate analysis, substance abuse and men’s health promotion.
The staff members will undergo their own tests from Monday next week. KwaZulu-Natal Legislature Speaker Neliswa Nkonyeni said it was very important for members to know the status of their health because that can help them attend to any problem before it gets out of control.
“The work of the members of Parliament is sometimes very stressful so it is very important for members to take their life seriously by regularly checking on their health status,” said Nkonyeni.
Nkonyeni also underwent a battery of tests on Thursday morning as part of the wellness programme and was happy that her health was in a very stable condition.
She added that the wellness event will assist in addressing the management of chronic diseases which are strongly linked to individual lifestyle choices and are considered as manageable if addressed.
“This can be addressed through effective lifestyle behavioural change and health promotion. Once employees are aware of their conditions they will be motivated to engage into lifestyle behavioural changes,” she said.
This is a particularly stressful period for the members of the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature as most of them are working almost around the clock preparing for debates on budgets that are currently presented by various provincial government departments at the legislature.
The period for the presentation of the departmental budgets has been shortened this year to give Member of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) time to go and monitor electioneering in their various constituencies ahead of next month's (May) local government elections. Nkonyeni thanked all members who have undergone tests as part of the wellness programme and urged those members who were unable to test to try and find time to do it.
For more information contact:
Wonder Hlongwa
Cell: 082 908 3532
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Legislature
KwaZulu-Natal MPLs test for HIV, TB and other health challenges
Province
