By Corinna Wu

Community Service

Elmer Huerta's call-in show and clinic help Latinos tune in to cancer prevention

By Corinna Wu

After two decades, the questions that perplexed Huerta early in his career have been answered. “You can sell health to the public, and people will buy it,” he says.

“I enjoy every single second of doing radio and TV because the message gets across,” says Huerta, whose broadcasts are unpaid—”a hobby,” he calls them. A soccer fan, he writes his one-minute radio scripts on the weekends as he watches matches on TV.

Huerta’s impact is clear when he attends games in person at RFK Memorial Stadium, home of the D.C. United soccer team. He sometimes gets recognized, and his fans greet him by shouting, “Hi, Dr. Huerta! Put out the cigarettes!” or occasionally, “Pap smear!”

“That makes me very happy,” he says.