Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine

SCHOOL CHILDREN HEALTH CAMP PROGRAMME

  • The scheme aims to provide comprehensive health care services to all students studying in Government and Government aided schools in first to twelth standards.

  • The Medical Officers of Primary Health Centres and the paramedical staff constitute school medical teams and visit the schools allotted to them on Thursdays on a predetermined definite programme under advance intimation to the school authorities.

  • Each medical team is allotted with 200 to 250 students to be covered in a visit. 

  • The team will provide health care checkup to the students thrice a year.

  • Childhood diseases that affects education and development  leads to serious illness causing handicaps in the students are detected and treated with due care and love.

  • Students who require specialised treatment are referred to higher medical institutions.

  • The referred cases of students are treated in the referral centres in a special counter.

  • All Thursdays are observed as "SCHOOL HEALTH DAYS". All Saturdays are observed as "Referral Days".

  • Two teachers in each school are identified and given training to co-ordinate and assist in the effective implementation of the scheme.

  • The students studying in higher classes are identified to work as "Health Guides". These students will also identify the students with health problems and bring to the notice of the Teachers, Doctors and the visiting paramedical teams.

  • School health cards have been printed and supplied.

  • These health cards will be issued to the students with Transfer Certificate when they leave the school.

  • Health appraisal register, Referral registers and Drug stock registers are printed and supplied for recording different health status and morbid conditions of the students examined.

  • Medicines worth Rs. 30,000 lakhs have been arranged to be supplied through TNMSC Ltd., for the Primary Health Centres, 40 SMI teams, other local bodies and for referral centres for treating the referred case of school children.

  • To facilitate easy mobility of school medical teams and transport referred cases of students POL charges and contingent funds have been released.

  • IEC and other educative materials like portable exhibition panels, Kits and posters carrying health message visuals on good health habits and practices to strengthen medicare services and to create awareness among paramedical staff, teachers and students are supplied.

  • Multimedia documentation of SCHCP has been done. 

  • Display exhibition kits on Mental Health and Good Health Practices have been supplied to educate teachers.

  • During the year 2007-2008, out of 40308 targeted schools, the visits of the Medical teams to the schools are as follows.

Visit

Schools
Covered

Students
Covered

I

37,793

71,72,068

II

12,500

23,66,216

III

3,974

7,70,118

           Of these students 47,29,211 were treated for one or other health problems, 34,390 students were referred to higher medical institutions for further treatment.

    Morbidity pattern of school children:

Sno.

Disease

2007-2008 (%)(Up to May'08prov)

1.

Dental Carries

9.6

2.

Worm Infestation

9.3

3.

Acute Respiratory Infections

13.5

4.

Anaemia

1.9

5.

Vitamin-A Deficiency

1.4

6.

Scabies

1.0

7.

Defective Vision

0.14

8.

Ottitis Media

0.2

9.

Leprosy

0.01

10.

Defective Hearing

0.01

11.

Rheumatic Heart Disease

0.02

12.

T.B

0.2

13.

Goitre

0.02