Dubai: Children in hundreds of schools in the emirate will get lessons on hygiene as part of a campaign organised jointly by health and education authorities.
The campaign targets children in grades 1 to 3 and will reach out to 146 private schools in Dubai, Amal Ali Khamis Al Mehrezi, Head of the School Health Unit at Dubai Health Authority, told Gulf News.
"These children, aged from 6 to 8 mostly, will be taught about healthy habits and the importance of maintaining personal hygiene, to raise their awareness and instil good behaviour."
The schools will distribute kits for the pupils with informative pamphlets, educative CDs and posters.
Authorities will monitor how well the schools pass on the message to their pupils, and will award the top three schools.
The campaign was launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, she said.
Significance
Amal stressed the significance of organising similar preventive health programmes to keep the society disease-free.
The campaign, which was first held last year, will run until April. It started two weeks ago at a workshop where medical staff from schools were briefed on how to manage emergencies during school hours and chronic illness among pupils. Many school-going children in the UAE suffer from chronic illnesses such as Type 1 diabetes and serious allergies such as asthma.
A senior doctor from the Authority told Gulf News earlier that many teachers are unaware of how to deal with children suffering from diabetes and do not know things such as a child needing to go to the toilet frequently or having to take his or her insulin shot.
All schools are required by law to have trained and licensed medical staff full-time. The updates to the staff were provided by children specialists from Latifa Hospital, Ministry of Health and private sector professionals.
Feedback
The medical care of pupils in the public sector schools in Dubai is handled by the Health Ministry while the DHA oversees the private schools.
"There was a huge feedback from schools wanting updates to their knowledge on how to deal with emergencies," Amal said.
She said this continuous medical education programmes also focused on dental care of children.
Dr Ramadan Ebrahim, Director of Health Regulation, said the programme for school staff was developed after receiving feedback from the private schools on topics they feel are essential for ensuring the health and well-being of schoolchildren.
