Building a Healthier Future Through School Health Programs

Despite the state of Uttar Pradesh having one of the worst health indices in the country, its dynamic Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav has been quick and far-sighted to realise that the key to setting things right in the long run may not lie in just building expensive hospitals, but supplementing it with creating health-consciousness in the minds of its young citizen so that they refrain from picking up risky habits and do not fall prey to preventable diseases.

In India, school is where several million young people spend around 6 hours of time each day for up to 13 years of their lives, providing a unique setting not just to impart scholastic education, but raise awareness on health issues that could impact their health and that of the nation.

In an unusually progressive step that matches what occurs in developed nations, Uttar Pradesh has become the first state to introduce health awareness as a component in its school curriculum. Based on the WHO concept of “school health promotion”, it has introduced a book called “ Hum Aur Hamara Swasthya” in its Madhyamik Shiksha curriculum, and is launching it in its basic education as well.

This book, written by a medical specialist and health expert and produced by a non-profit organisation called HOPE Initiative (Health Oriented Programs and Education), covers ten topics that that are considered universally important:

1. Sanitation and Hygiene that describes the seven steps of hand washing and covers toilet etiquette
2. Life style diseases such as excess consumption of fast food, lack of physical exercise, calculating one’s Body Mass Index, and tackling obesity in school children.
3. Managing examination stress
4. Bullying, ragging and violence in schools
5. Road Traffic accidents and their prevention
6. Global warming
7. Knowing about but resisting peer pressure initiation to alcohol, tobacco and drugs
8. Mosquito menace: simple steps to be taken at home and locality to ward off malaria and dengue
9. Hepatitis and its prevention. Ensuring vaccination from this preventable scourge
10. Celebrating festivals such as Diwali and Holi in a safe and healthy manner

The well-illustrated attractive book with pictures and cartoons aims to extend its reach beyond students to their siblings and parents, in what is described as a “school-to-community” approach. And to make the health topics interesting, HOPE has produced 6 documentary movies and 3 educational games as supplement.

The spade work for introducing health education in schools had begun few years ago with the Education Department of UP government engaging HOPE to provide training to teachers of 6000 schools of 25 districts of the state on health issues, with support from the philanthropic BMS Foundation.

Supporting school health programs to improve the health status of our nation’s young people has never been more important. Their health is critically related to the health-related behavior they choose to adopt.

Public health experts estimate that even a modest decline in the number of adolescents getting addicted to tobacco each year for instance, could lead to significant reduction in the incidence of heart and chest diseases, and save many lives from cardiac and cancer deaths in the community.