An appeal has been made to Makueni residents to do frequent screening for non-communicable diseases in order to know their health condition early enough.Chief Officer (CO) for Health, Human Resource Management and Administration in Makueni County Dr. Harvey Mulei emphasized the need to do frequent screening for diabetes, high blood pressure and cancers to help in averting diseases or preventing them from worsening.'Most people are sick but they don't realize they are sick. Every time you are screened at our health facility and we realize you are exposed to such diseases, we start treatment immediately,' said Dr. Mulei at Emali Bus Park in Nzaui Subcounty during the World Contraception Day celebrations.'We have screened 192 for diabetes, hypertension and cervical cancer. People should visit our health facilities and ensure they are checked. Currently we are using our Health Promoters who are empowered, have tools and are able to screen the community,' he added.On contraception, Mulei urged women to at least have a space between one child and the other to help her health from deteriorating and also enable her to meet the needs of her children.He further said that at the health facilities, they are also taught the various methods of contraceptives besides being informed about the suitable one to use especially for breastfeeding mothers.'Women are supposed to have a space of at least 24 months between one child and another. This help the mothers to get healthy children. However, if they fail to space, they may end up having premature births. Besides both maternal and child mortality rates increase and mothers are unable to educate or even feed their children well,' Dr. Mulei noted.The event was organized by the county government in collaboration with the development partners and aimed at empowering women and girls with information and resources on contraception options.Dr. Mulei further pledged that the county would mobilize more resources and secure funding to enhance access to quality contraceptive services.During the occasion, women were taught the three methods of contraception that include short, long term and permanent respectively.Meanwhile the health CE0 disclosed that Emali Hospital has been upgraded and gazetted as a Level 4 facility saying plans were underway to establish a surgical theatre and also install additional medical equipment.Source: Kenya News Agency