To ensure that no child is left out in the ‘Health for all Deltans’ policy of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration, Delta State Government is set to launch the Comprehensive School Health Programme in all schools across the State to cater for the healthcare needs of school children.
Disclosing this during a recent advocacy visit to the State ministry of Education, Basic and Secondary, to inform the commissioner of the programme, Chairman, Delta State Primary Health Care Development Agency (DSPHCDA), Dr. Isioma Okobah revealed that the programme was aimed at ensuring total health wellbeing of the child.
Okobah, speaking on the objective of the Delta State Comprehensive School Health Programme (DSCHP), tagged ‘No Child Left Behind’ said the programme was aimed at prompting the health wellbeing of the child through the provision of adequate health education on common health issues, proper hygiene, nutrition, healthy lifestyle and disease preventions.
The chairman said the programme would help to ensure that at the point of entering school, every child would be made to undergo certain clinical examination so as to quickly address any health issue the child may be having, adding that early detection of health issues was the most reliable way to address the problem.
Continuing, she disclosed that every child would be made to present his or her immunisation card to ensure the child is fully protected from childhood killer diseases, adding that when a child is discovered to have failed in completing the routine immunisation requirement, the child would be made to undergo those vaccinations he or she may have failed to take.
While saying that the programme provides promotional, preventive and curative health services to school children, Okobah revealed that DSCHP would also collaborate with the school children feeding programme to ensure the provision of adequate nutritional meal for the children in order to address malnutrition among children.
She further stated that the School Comprehensive Health Programme would equally look into the mental health of every school child in order to address the psychological, physical, mental, emotional and social health of the child.
Noting that the programme would be for all primary and Secondary schools in the state, Okobah revealed that the Agency, through the Health Department at the Local Government Areas, would deploy one nurse to oversee the programme.
Okobah noted that the advocacy visit was to seek the support of the ministry in order to achieve the objectives of the Programme.
Responding, Commissioner Chiedu Ebie assured on the ministry’s partnership with the agency in order to achieve the objectives of the programme in realisation of the State Government Agenda of “Relevant Health and Education Policies” as encapsulated in the SMART agenda.
Ebie, while commending the programmes of the agency, said the school health programme would no doubt help in improving the health status of school children in the state.
