Global Health Strategies, a Delhi-based consulting organisation recently got approval from the Rajasthan government to support its government controlled school's health program that is dedicated for improving health and cognitive development of school children and adolescents.
This was announced by Sachin Pilot, Union Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology, alongside district health department officials at the government girls senior secondary school in Ajmer.
With funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the three-year project will provide technical assistance and operational support to the government health and education departments in government and government-aided schools. The collaboration is expected to improve health outcomes via regular health screening, treatment of illnesses, immunisation, nutritional supplements and health promotion activities for school children.
GHS will assist the government of Rajasthan in identifying and addressing the gaps in the existing program, developing training materials and guidelines for training teachers and health workers and planning and conducting the trainings at district and block levels for the school health programme. Additionally, GHS will strengthen the reporting and information system by building capacity, providing on-site support and regular feedback to respective Government officials.
The project will initially focus on providing support in two districts in Rajasthan and one district in Delhi state for demonstrating success. On the occasion, Pilot said, “Efforts aimed at teaching children about ways to be healthy and inculcating good habits at a young age not only encourage robust lifelong habits, but can also improve their school performance. Evidence shows that healthy children retain higher levels of cognitive functionality and are likely to attend school more regularly and for longer. I am happy that GHS and the government of Rajasthan are working together to achieve the objectives of the programme.”
Victor Zonana, principal, GHS said, that it is an honour for Global Health Strategies to be partnering with the government of Rajasthan and the Michael and Susan Dell foundation in helping these critical health services reach the children of Rajasthan. This programme emphasises all that GHS stands for enabling life enhancing services to reach those who need them the most.
Citing details of the project, Dr Neeraj Agrawal, director, project in-charge, GHS said, “The project activities will be arranged and initiated in three phases assessment, intervention, and advocacy and communications. Besides supporting implementation of the overall school health package, the project will also support the implementation of government’s new initiatives like mass deworming and iron and folic acid supplementation to prevent anaemia in school children in Jodhpur and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan.”
GHS staff will also support community outreach through activities such as mothers’ group meetings at urban ward/village level. In rural areas, GHS field coordinators will facilitate regular Village Health and Sanitation Committee meetings.