In a bid to ensure their health and well-being, the Gujarat government has launched a comprehensive health check-up campaign for school children across the state, under the Shala Arogya-National Child Health Program (SHRBSK), a statement said on Wednesday.
“This special campaign commenced on June 12, the first day of the 20th Shala Praveshotsav, and will be conducted intensively for the next 30 days. A major highlight of the 20th Shala Praveshotsav is that the government aims to examine more than one crore school children to ensure their health and well-being,” the state government said in a communique.
SHRBSK is a collaborative initiative between the Centre and the State, which caters to children from newborns up to 18 years of age. It encompasses those in Anganwadi centres, primary schools, secondary/higher secondary schools, as well as school dropouts. Under this program, the state government provides free health check-ups, diagnosing various ailments such as anaemia, malnutrition, skin diseases, learning disabilities, developmental delays, and other illnesses.
Children diagnosed with ailments during the campaign will receive free treatment at government health institutions, including Primary Health Centers, Community Health Centers, District hospitals, medical college hospitals, and super speciality hospitals. Around 1,000 mobile health teams of the SHRBSK will conduct health check-ups of the students studying in the state. One mobile health team will include doctors, pharmacists, and health workers, the statement said.
The state government has decided to issue a ‘Digital Health Card’ for Monitoring Students’ Nutrition Level and Cognitive Development. This card will provide insights into various health parameters like height, anaemia levels and nutrition status, etc, it said.
SHRBSK mobile health teams and community health officers will coordinate with school nodal officers to update students’ health details on the digital health card, which will be accessible to both students and parents. Gujarat is the first and only state in the country to implement digital health cards for monitoring the cognitive development and nutritional status of school children, the statement said.
Additionally, the nodal teacher and community health officer will collaborate to facilitate Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA ID) work for all students during the campaign, it added.
