Nationwide health initiative targets students

Prevention is better than cure, so the health ministry is taking solid steps to disseminate in-depth lessons on prevention of chronic diseases among the residents, catching them up as early as they start their life at schools. Nationwide programmes have been implementing to curb the number of chronic diseases in the UAE, specially targeting the school students to help them shape their lifestyle healthy that will safeguard them from a tragic waste of life. The health awareness lessons, aimed at educating school students from all education zones in the country, have been designed with the facts, figures, causes and protection methods against several diseases, said a top official at the Ministry of Health (MoH). Dr Mahmood Fikri, assistant undersecretary for Health Policies at the MoH pointed out that the health education guide for students emphasises on healthy behaviour and practicing physical exercise on a daily basis. “So far, the MoH has implemented about 25,702 health education activities for the public school students all over the UAE, covering about 12,923,48 male and female students, parents and teachers since its inception last year,” he revealed. “The programmes educate them health tips, disease prevention guidelines and ill-free lifestyle to be practiced in the daily life. A number of doctors and nurses lead these study classes every fortnight,” Dr Fikri noted. Dr Mariam Al Matroushi, director of Health Legislation Department and Supervisor of the School Health Programme at the MoH, said a total of 142 hours programme ran at health centres, while it was 98 hours at schools during this time. “The activities covered several topics including health and cleanliness, dental and oral health, nutrition and healthy lifestyles, physical education, development, prevention of HIV/AIDS or infectious diseases, psychological wellbeing and health enhancement techniques,” she elaborated. “Other subjects included preventing the causes of death, dangers of smoking habit, protection against violence and accidents, first-aid tips, dangers of the use of drugs and narcotics, importance of vaccinations against infectious diseases, creating a healthy environment and effective use of health information resources.” According to Al Matroushi, the school health programme faces various challenges such as the incapability to ensure mobilisation of sufficient specialised doctors and nurses for this programme. “The current nursing staff needed continuous training to make them equipped to educate the students. There’s also big shortage of psychological education specialists to provide sufficient information for students, parents and community members,” she noted. From / Gulf Today