by Earl J. Sorrell, Jr.

Mayor David Allen, city of Prairie View, home of Prairie View A&M University, has set a standard to bring attention to the health and welfare of his administration and the citizens of Prairie View. Mayor Allen took a bold step introducing a Stroke-Free Zone Health Fairto Prairie View after listening to several presentations regarding stress and strokes in the African-American community.  

The information he received was given at a World Conference of Mayorsmeeting in Los Angeles and then again in Atlanta, GA at Morehouse School of Medicine. After listening to the statistics on strokes and stress-related medical condition given by Mr. Ivan Sims, founder of Stroke Free Zone, a non-profit organization, Mayor Allen focused on the positives of what would be best for his city.  

Mayor Allen contacted Mr. Sims who shared additional and necessary information on strokes, stroke screening and its benefits.  Some general information shared: 

1) 795,000 stroke occurrences in U.S. annually, 

2) 450,000 stroke occurrences in U.S. women annually, 

3) 610,000 first timers 185,000 re-occurrences annually,             

4) Half of all African-American deaths are caused by complication of cardiovascular disease which can be associated with stroke related problems.

“I’ve performed over 60,000 vascular studies during my 38-year career as a non-invasive medical imaging Sonographer”said Mr. Sims.  

“My findings over the years have assisted doctors in determining a diagnosis for their patient.  Patients or patrons who have diabetes sometimes present equivocal results due to early disease of artery wall tissue scaring.  Preventive health screening is a valuable tool that will assist your doctor.  Candidates for early detection screening have a broad range.  Diabetics and those with cardiovascular issues appear to have the highest risk of suffering a debilitating stroke.”

Mayor Allen, after gathering the facts, made a calculated decision to put together a fair that will serve as a model to the city of Prairie View for future Stroke-Free Zone health fairs that will benefit the community based on the success of the initial fair.  There were over 40 individuals screened and the results were positive in many ways.  Each individual screened was able to get a copy of their results to take to their doctor.  

Several individuals were high risk candidates for strokes and a few were considered to be in immediate need of their doctor’s consultation, whereas the information given and received could help the doctors take preventive measures to address the proper medical actions needed to help the patient.  

These screenings were very cost-effective for several reasons, it eliminated:

1) Loss of time from work, 

2) Gave valuable information to each participant, 

3) a few individuals were able to take information directly to their doctor for immediate assistance and put into place a plan of action to prevent a stroke or heart attack, 

4)  Stress on family and patient’s by having a heads up outlook to not having to be hospitalized.  

Mayor Allen has taken a major step to bring about a paradigm effect in the community.  Are the citizens willing to take the next step to help improve their quality of life for the future?

Too often we hear of civic leaders who mismanage the funds of the community and the people in the community suffer.  

Here is the Mayor of Prairie View, who decided to reach out to members of the community to set a standard to promote the physical, mental and financial health of the community by introducing a proactive health care idea that can save lives, prevent long hospital stays, reduce insurance premiums from rising cost, and promote a strong spiritual connection to bless the people of said community.  

President Barack Obama pledged to give America the Affordable Health Careact and political corruption did everything it could to stop it.  Once the people saw it benefited them, they refused to allow the political lies to take away their benefits.  People of Prairie View should be proud to have a Mayor who is looking out for his constituents.  

Citizens in the surrounding area, have your mayor’s, council men and women, employers and others contact Mayor Allen and/or Mr. Sims for expert advice on the positive benefits of having knowledge to have a healthier community with a Stroke Free Zone Health Fair.  

Mayor Allen is looking to add additional programs to help improve the quality of life for the employees, families and citizens of the great City of Prairie View, Texas.  

For more information regarding the success of the Stroke Free Zone Health Fair, strokes and stress free information, you can contact Mayor Allen’s City of Prairie View webpage at http://www.prairieviewtexas.gov/;  or the Stroke Free Zones website at http://www.strokefreezone.org/index.html