Health promotion in schools
All students attending publicly funded schools in Gauteng are set to be screened for a range of health conditions that undermine their learning.
The Gauteng Department of Health is set to intensify its school health programmes this year.
According to the department’s spokesperson Simon Zwane, last year the department screened over 50 000 learners from different schools for a range of health conditions.
Zwane says the prevalent cases that were identified were oral health, eyecare, hearing difficulties, speech and suspected TB.
“During these visits, immunisation is also one of the key services that are provided to children.
“Over and above the immunisation, the children are also assisted with psychosocial support, and to ensure that positive change is effected, there are also follow-up visits,” explains Zwane.
He adds that the department’s 61 School Health Teams. which are made up of a professional nurse and an enrolled nurse and/or an assistant nurse. screened 57 095 learners last year, and 6 447 of the learners were referred to local clinics and hospitals for specialist care and further investigations.
“The major aim of the teams is to ensure that challenges that may impact negatively on effective learning are picked up early and dealt with properly, and as an adjunct to the screenings, the teams also focus on enlightening learners on general hygiene habits and healthy eating.”
The Gauteng MEC of Health, Hope Papo, says that this programme is one of the department’s initiatives to strengthen primary healthcare and to ensure that preventable health factors that undermine the children’s learning process are eliminated to ensure that children do not drop out of school.
He has also encouraged parents to sign consent forms sent with the children home from school before these visits so that they do not miss out on vital immunisations.
