Many Fujianese women often neglect routine health check ups. So the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, a community-based facility in New York City, recently hired a staff member who speaks Fujianese to reach out to these women.

Li Mei-jin, who works in the center’s health education department, is visiting factories and signing up workers for free check ups. According to Li, for every seven Fujianese women who went for a check up, there was one who discovered a health problem. This showed the great need for these women to have regular check ups.

Yet, the outreach campaign has not been easy and it requires a lot of effort to get these women to go for free check ups.

Li is the center's only Fujianese-speaking health education staff person. Her outreach work is difficult mainly because garment factory owners and managers are reluctant to cooperate. She said that some owners think the outreach campaign is an insurance sales pitch, while others think that it interferes with the time workers need to do their jobs.

Some managers are also afraid that owners will hold them responsible for allowing outreach workers into the factories. For example, one manager thought that the owners would not approve of workers disclosing personal and tax information required to register for the initiative.

However, Li has also encountered many understanding owners. One owner even arranged for a car to send the garment workers to the health center for an information session.

As long as Li convinces owners, she is able to enter the factories to do her job. Li indicated that check ups allow female workers to detect diseases at an early stage and they also indirectly minimize the health insurance costs of the employers. Therefore, she said, it would not harm employers in any way.

Female workers, due to their low income, will only get a check-up if it is free. Some worry about check ups because of their lack of legal status and health insurance, while others think they are too busy and healthy to have check ups. To convince them otherwise, Li informs them that women are prone to many diseases and that only healthy bodies can earn money.

According to Li, many Fujianese women do not have a high level of education, and many do not know about check ups for breast and ovarian cancer. Some do not even know how to write their names. Therefore, they really need to know about the free check ups through the outreach campaign.

She encourages women over 40, who do not have health insurance, and have a low income, to accept free screenings for breast and ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer screenings are especially important for those who have had sexual experiences. Moreover, these check ups do not require women to be documented. For more information, please call the Charles B. Wang Community Health Care Center: 212-966-0228.