MEN in Murrurundi will be able to access health checks for free when the Men's Health Education Rural Van (MHERV) comes to town on March 7.
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The van will be located in front of TC Motors, next to council and the library in Murrurundi.
Around 41,000 Australian men die each year from preventable disease.
That's four men and four grieving families every hour.
The MHERV is a purpose built caravan travelling NSW in regional and rural areas testing men for signs of ill health.
It is staffed by a full time Registered Nurse, Robert Woolley, and supported by the Rotary Clubs in the 60 plus NSW towns on the schedule including Murrurundi.
We all know that men are slow to go to the doctor to get something attended to that will "go away if I put up with it for a while".
These are the guys who drop dead in the pub, or in the paddock, because nobody saw it coming.
MHERV has many times identified a life-threatening condition, and saved someone from an early death.
The 'Men's Health Education Rural Van' is a Rotary project run mainly by members of the Warner's Bay Rotary Club, but is sponsored and supported by many Rotary Clubs around the state.
The health tests are offered by Rotary free of charge.
The cost is met by Rotary fundraising and sponsorship.
Major sponsors are the not-for-profit including the Royal Freemasons' Benevolent Institution, and the NSW Government Minister for Health Brad Hazzard who has helped with a grant to assist with setting up the project, and purchasing the medical consumables that are used for the tests.
The tests are non-invasive, being for body mass, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar (diabetes).