Program Description:
To put our health education into practice, ST offers free health testing to all of our participants and their fellow community members. We group health testing days with educational lectures, breaking down stigmas surrounding participation in obtaining health status via health testing. At community testing days we provide STD testings (HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, etc.) and/or NCD testings (blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and breast cancer screenings) that are relevant to Rwanda’s health goals.
program goals:
Participants are being tested/screened regularly
Participants are fully aware of their health status
Communities are breaking stigmas and taking action
Program Outcomes:
Since ST has begun its initiative to provide health testing in 2016, over 5,000 people have been screened/tested and are now aware of their health status. In 2019 alone, over 3,200 people were screened over the course of 12 health testing days across 5 basketball courts. Below are some of the results of these testings over the past year:
H.I.V. Results
Non Communicable Disease Results
Sexually Transmitted Disease/Infection Results
“Before I started coming to the Shooting Touch program, I thought I only had to get tested when I got pregnant. Now, I see the players here can get tested about every three months. It’s very important to know the health status of yourself, or the baby in your womb. I’d tell anyone to get tested. It’s a great habit to test before your body could be in trouble.”