Orissa to introduce school health programme from July

PTI, March 26, 2010V
Bhubaneswar, Mar 26 (PTI) The Orissa government today said it would introduce health programme in 60,000 schools in the most backward KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) region from July.


"About 58 lakh students will benefit from the programme..

We have also set up a target to set up at least 1,069 health sub-centres in KBK region by 2012," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters here after a State Health Mission meeting chaired by him.

As per the programme, school children would undergo regular health check-ups and be provided with medicines free of cost required for their diseases .

The KBK region, which had often hit headlines for poor health service, would get more health centres. The health workers, including doctors and para-medical staff, working in the interior pockets would get special facilities, he said.

Orissa to Introduce School Health Programme
Outlook, March 26, 2010
Targeting to set up at least 1,069 health sub-centres in Orissa's bakcward KBK (Kalahandi- Balangir-Koraput) region by 2012, Orissa government today decided to introduce School Health Programme in 60,000 schools from July, official sources said.


This was decided at the 4th State Health Mission meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.

"About 58 lakh students will benefit from the programme," Patnaik told reporters after the meeting.

According to the programme, school children would undergo regular health check-up and be provided with medicines required for their diseases.

KBK region, which had often hit headlines for poor health service, would get more health centres. As the health workers including doctors and para-medical staff refuse to work in interior pockets due to lack of proper accomodation, would now get special facilities, the meeting decided.

Keeping in view on the alarming infant mortality rates (IMR), it was also decided to set up 200 more nweborn care centres and at least five trauma centres to be opened at different district headquarter hospitals, said health minister Prasanna Acharya.

While giving maximum stress on the IMR and Mother Mortality Rate (MMR) rates, Patnaik said that there was need to further reduction in the rates as Orissa still registered maxium death of infants and pregnant mothers.

Patnaik too stressed on the distribution of health food among children and pregnant women. The departments of women and child development and school and mass education department had a major role to play in this regard, he said.

On the scarcity of doctors, Patnaik said that the state government had already started a drive to recruit doctors and it would continue. As many as 408 doctors were recently recruited, he pointed out.

Stating that as many as 40,405 ASHA activists were already in the job, he said that some of them were trained with the skill to handle malaria cases, which had emerged as a major challenge for the state administration.

This apart, more ambulances and mobile health units would be introduced in coming days in order to take health services to peoples' door step.