By CHILA NAMAIKO –

MORE than 350 residents of Tara area in Kalomo on Sunday accessed free medical check-ups and treatment offered by the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church health practitioners.
The health outreach programme, which is the second to be conducted this year, was conducted at Tara Basic School.
The residents accessed various health services, among them, antenatal, dental, voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) and eye screening.
SDA South Zambia Conference (SZC) health director Simeon Hamweene said the outreach programme was aimed at supplementing Government through the Ministry of Health’s efforts in providing quality health services to various communities.
Mr Hamweene said the exercise was also an act of Christianity in reaching out to more underprivileged people, especially in the rural areas where many people encountered challenges.
“You may be aware that Jesus, throughout his ministry on earth, healed more than he preached and also asked his disciples to do the same by helping people such as the story of the Good Samaritan,” he said.
Mr Hamweene said the church should also dedicate part of its ministry to spreading God’s Word by healing the sick and providing for the less privileged.
A clinical officer from Choma General Hospital, Mushaukwa Chimoga called on communities to always access health services in order to live healthy lives.
The residents hailed the church for its proactive role in supplementing the Government’s efforts in taking quality health services closer to them and called on other stakeholders to emulate the gesture by SDA.