Selma health fair addresses health care disparities in Black Belt

SELMA, Ala. (WSFA) – Cars lined the street outside of the Tabernacle of Praise Church in Selma to speak with medical organizations and providers at a community health fair on Saturday. “A whole host of vendors here who are participating with us to try to help expand the message of health care inside of the Black Belt,” said Tabernacle of Praise Church pastor Darrio Melton. The reason that health fairs like this one are so important in the Black Belt is the disparity in health care there. Residents are more likely to suffer from cancer, stroke and many other health issues. Mudasir Andrabi is an assistant professor at the University of Alabama and was in attendance at the event. Her focus is on cardiovascular health, particularly strokes, in underserved populations like Selma. “African American and other minority populations which are deprived of health care services, they don’t have accessible and affordable health care,” Andrabi said. “So our goal is to remove those health disparities by making the programs which are affordable, which are accessible to them.” One of the precursors to a stroke is high blood pressure, which was also a focus. The church partnered with UAB EPIPHANY, a program...