Many Ajman school kids suffer health problems

The Ajman Education Zone has found that many students are anaemic and suffer from various health problems ranging from obesity, thalassemia, heart problems to poor eye sight.

A senior health official said about 26 per cent of the students were found to be suffering from ailments. Tests were undertaken on nearly 4,200 students out of which 1,068 tested positive, he said.

Mohammed Salim Bali, Director of the School Health Department at the Ajman Medical District, said there is a need to propagate proper healthcare among students besides taking preventive measures such as vaccinating them.

"The test results will be submitted to the Ministry of Health for action."

The ailments included poor sight (27.1 per cent), obesity (21.1 per cent), asthma (18.8 per cent), anaemia (10.1 per cent), enuresis (5.8 per cent), scoliosis (3.9 per cent), heart problems (2.2 per cent) and thalassemia (1.1 per cent).

"Based on this year's medical report, we will set up a school health programme and decide the exact amount of vaccines we need for the next academic year." He said a health awareness programme will also be launched.

Lectures on how to take care of health will be held in coordination with the Nursing Section of the Medical Zone, he said.

The health awareness lectures and vaccination programme will include five new schools which are due to open in the next academic year.

The new schools will bring the number of schools to 42 in Ajman. He said students are vaccinated every four years. The Medical District normally conducts the programme for grades one, five and nine.