TOI : Disease screening to be made must for schoolgoers : Nov 8,2007

New Delhi: All schoolchildren in India studying above Std V will soon be screened for diseases once a year. As part of the National School Health Programme—being planned by the ministries of health and HRD—the children will be given ‘smart health cards’ containing information on their physical condition.

    The children will be checked by doctors—from public or private hospitals—for blindness, deafness, dental and cardio-vascular health, vitamin deficiency and anaemia. If a child is found suffering from any of the above, he/she will be immediately referred for further treatment.

    The programme aims to promote positive health among children and prevent diseases through early diagnosis and treatment. Officials from both the ministries have held a round of talks and the next one is scheduled for mid-December.

    Health minister A Ramadoss said, “A deafness and speech programme will teach doctors, family members and teachers how to identify children with hearing and sight problems early before the problem becomes damaging. The school health programme will be a public-private partnership. It will initially be launched in states that show interest in having such a screening programme.”

    “The IMA and Dental Council of India have agreed to help us with the screening. Students will be given health cards charting their disease history,” Ramadoss said. The children will be routinely screened for complications such as congenital heart disease and diabetes. Risk factors like high BP, hyper-tension and obesity, the primary causes behind cardio-vascular diseases (CVDs), will also be identified.

    The Planning Commission has approved in principle the first national scheme for prevention and control of CVDs, stroke and diabetes. To be implemented by the health ministry from mid-December, the initial phase will cost Rs 15 crore.

    The ministry has asked the plan panel to sanction Rs 1,680 crore to run the programme from 2008-2012.