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Our Mission:
Rotarians working to improve world health.

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Our History
This is a story of how a good idea, mixed with Rotary ideals and excellent timing, is making a difference. It all started after a yoga class in Homer, Alaska in the winter of 1999. Tuesday evenings, Steve and Noko Yoshida arrived at the home of Will Files and Martha Ellen for yoga, followed by dinner and fellowship. 1998 saw the devaluing of the Russian ruble. Many of our friends in Yelizovo on the Kamchatka Peninsula of the Russian Far East were without heat or electricity during severe cold conditions since the government had not been able to pay the utility bills. The average life expectancy for a male on Kamchatka was 46 years.

Steve had first hand experience of the hardships facing our friends. Martha Ellen fervently expressed the need for individuals to take charge of their own health. Will immediately thought of the Homer Kachemak Bay Rotary Club annual Health Fair. This program had provided health education and prevention for the community since 1984. We all wondered if this would help in Russia?

A Discovery Grant provided the opportunity to assess the needs and capacity of the five Rotary clubs on Kamchatka. After traveling on long dusty roads and meeting with Rotarians, medical professionals and government representatives, it was decided that our sister Rotary Club in Yelizovo had the motivation, commitment and ability to conduct a major health fair. Yelizovo is also the Sister City of Homer, Alaska USA.

In November of 1999, we brought 3 people from Yelizovo to observe our health fair in Homer. They were highly motivated and returned to produce the first ever health fair in Russia in March 2000. 1,000 people attended. Many saw health care professionals for the first time in their lives. They created a festival atmosphere with numerous educational booths and screenings.

In November of 2000, a group of seven journeyed from Vladivostok, Petropavlovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yelizovo to Homer, Alaska to observe the annual health fair. Returning home, they held health fairs in the fall of 2001 (Yelizovo continued to hold a health fair in March). Vladivostok was also the site for a training seminar attended by representatives from twenty Russian cities. Much interest was expressed in expanding the health fair concept.

While in Alaska, Dr. Irina Rubashek visited the Alaska Health Fair Center, and observed that this was exactly what was needed in Russia --- a vehicle to continue and expand health fairs around Russia.

We wrote a grant to USAID which was one of the top grants awarded. This grant helped to establish the first Health Fair Center in Vladivostok, Russia. It was apparent that this model was working, so an ad hoc committee of Rotary International provided additional funds to establish 3 new health fair centers (Yakutsk, Irkutsk and Kursk).

A major milestone occurred when the leaders of the Vlad HF Center applied for and received another grant from USAID to fund/establish a new health fair center in Khabarovsk.

As of the end of 2005, the following statistics have been compiled for Russia:
  • 17 - RUSSIAN ROTARY CLUBS HAVE BEEN INVOLVED
  • 125 - HEALTH FAIRS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED INCLUDING
  • 48 - MOBILE HFs
  • 35 - SUBJECT HFs
  • 38 - HFs FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
  • 55,340 - VISITORS
PARTICIPANTS:
  • 3,158 - MEDICAL DOCTORS AND NURSES
  • 490 - ROTARIANS, ROTARACTORS
  • 5 - REGIONAL HEALTH FAIR CENTERS HAVE BEEN STARTED:

    The main goal is:
    • - Prevention is the Intention! (English)
    • - Profilaktika-nasha Taktika! (Russian)
    • - La Salud Vamos a Cuidar! (Spanish)
    Additional objectives include:
    • - Establish health fair centers in targeted areas
    • - Introduce health fair concept to Rotary districts and affiliate clubs
    • - Take preventive actions based on local/regional needs
    • - Create liaison between Rotary volunteer organizers, medical professionals, and government agencies (especially health departments)
    • - Work within the policies of Rotary International to promote good health practices and sustainable local health fair programs
    • - Identify needs – conduct needs assessments
    • - Promote the concept of a healthy nation
    • - Report the activites and results of health fairs
    • - Utilize local resources
    • - Provide health screenings
    • - Provide health education
    • - Provide preventive care
    • - Offer mobile health fairs
    • - Age, gender, culture sensitive
    In order to coordinate Health Fair efforts in Russia, Mexico and Fiji, and also to expand the program within those countries plus reaching out to new parts of the world, the first annual World Health Fair Conference was held in April 2005 in Denver, Colorado USA. During that time, we visited 4 of the health fairs around Denver. 9HealthFair conducts 170 health fairs in Colorado in a two-week period. We were very interested in discovering whether this model might be appropriate for some of the Russian regions, or operations in other countries.

    The World Health Fair Group aims to support Rotarians who are organizing events featuring free screenings for treatable diseases and community education about health and wellness

    "A health fair showcases local resources, so our intent is not to bring in experts for short periods and then leave. The main work will be carried out by local Rotarians," says Will Files, a member of the Rotary Club of Homer-Kachemak Bay, Alaska, USA, and co-chair of World Health Fairs - A Rotarian Action Group. "We also hope to collaborate with like the Malaria Action Group, so that at a health fair in a community where malaria is abig problem, mosquito nets could be distributed, and people would be trained on their use and importance."

    In a world where so many struggle with illness or live in pain or suffer with health challenges, Rotarians took a good idea, mixed in Rotary ideals and made a difference.

    Individuals are encouraged to take charge of their own health. To provide them with the capability, Rotary volunteers join with health care professionals and government agencies to hold a "health fair" tailored to the needs of the community.

    If your Rotary Club has motivation, commitment and dedicated volunteers, you can conduct a health fair.



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