Parisx2 Walk4Life: Njalla Quan Sports Academy hopes to double turnout in fourth edition
The Njalla Quan Sports Academy will be organizing the fourth edition of the Parisx2 Walk4Life event from December 12-14 in Limbe. With support from several sponsors, enough resources have been mobilized to cover the activities which will involve door-to-door sensitization of the population, medical screening, and a 10km walk.
The annual health fitness event has focused mainly on non-communicable diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity among others, since its inception in 2020. “It is because they are linked to sports and fitness” event coordinator, Yannick Suh said.
“We have recorded an average of 1,000 participants in the past years, and hope to go higher this year” the coordinator pointed out.
Participants will be fully involved, and will be able to win prizes by participating in the various activities. They will equally benefit from health consultations and medical tests valued at 60,000 FCFA.
“The burden of hypertension and diabetes is actually on the rise in Cameroon. As at 2021, the prevalence of diabetes stood at 5.5 percent, that of hypertension is at 30.9 percent” Dr. Fanny Matso, the representative of the PCC Health services and team member said.
“What is actually scary is that it cuts through a population range of like 20 years to 79. The age limit that we used to have is actually going down. This time around, we have more people in their 20s suffering from hypertension and diabetes” she added.
The President of the Njalla Quan Sports Academy (NQSA) and head of the organizing committee, Henry Njalla Quan Jr, said the project is a way of “giving back to the community […] since there’s no football for now.”
NQSA took a break from sporting activities some months back, citing unfair treatment by the Cameroon Football Federation. Henry Njalla Quan Jr. said there is no return to football for now, pointing out that the organization’s main focus at the moment is the Walk4Life programme, which is an initiative aimed at contributing to development in the country.
