School Health Programme : Ayushman Bharat | 20 Mar 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) informed the Rajya Sabha about the implementation of School Health Programme (SHP).

Key Points

• About the Programme:
  
  • The School Health Programme (SHP) under Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018 by the Prime Minister in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.
  • It is a joint collaborative programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
• Vision:
  
  • The initiative targets both Education and Health and intends to facilitate an integrated approach to health programming and more effective learning at the school level.
• Major Roles:
  
  • Under the programme teachers act as “Health and Wellness Ambassadors” and disseminate various key information by organising culturally sensitive activity based sessions for one hour per week for 24 weeks in a year to promote joyful learning.
  • Further, the students act as Health and Wellness Messengers in the society. And every Tuesday is dedicated as Health and Wellness Day in the schools.
• Objectives:
  
  • Awareness about age appropriate information about health and nutrition to the children in schools.
  • Detection and treating diseases early in children and adolescents including identification of malnourished and anemic children.
  • Usage of safe drinking water in schools.
  • Promotion of safe menstrual hygiene practices by girls.
  • Promotion of yoga and meditation through Health & Wellness Ambassadors.
  • Encouragement for research on health, wellness and nutrition for children.
• Themes:
  
  • The Programme is based on the 11 identified themes
  • Some of them are emotional wellbeing, interpersonal relationships,responsible citizenship, gender equality, reproductive health, HIV prevention, safety and security against violence and promotion of safe use of the internet.
• Linked with SDGs:
  
  • The Ministry of Human Resource Development and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) along with National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have also developed curriculum framework and training material for training of nodal teachers, in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG- 3).
    
    • SDG 3 aspires to ensure health and well-being for all.
• Integration with Other Initiatives:
  
  • The initiative is also linked with other government initiatives such as Fit India movement, Eat Right campaign, Poshan Abhiyaan for an all-round and holistic development model of health for the school children.
  • Additionally, the government is implementing a few schemes on the similar lines namely, Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Program and Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Programme.
    
    • Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Program intends to ensure holistic development of the adolescent population.
    • Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Programme is aimed at early identification and intervention of diseases in children from their birth to 18 years of age.

Source: PIB