School Health Screening: MoH targets 27,000 nursery school children by year-end

– as programme launched in Reg 2

Boosting healthcare provision for students countrywide, the Health Ministry’s School Health Department on Friday launched its first-time Comprehensive Child and Youth School Health Screening Programme at Mainstay Health Post in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).
Through this programme, students at Mainstay Nursery School join other children across the country for screening and treatment of their oral health, hearing and vision.
Intending to improve the health of school children aged 5-17, the Health Ministry in collaboration with the Education Ministry and Mount Sinai Health Systems, aims to screen at least 27,000 nursery-level children by the end of the year.
At the Region Two programme launch, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony noted that with this initiative, early detection of health issues can be promptly addressed, expanding focus beyond the first three to five years of a child’s life.
“After children get to a certain age, in most cases three-five years of age, parents would oftentimes stop taking them to the health centre because they feel as though their child is healthy and so they don’t do any preventative checkups. So, we thought by having [this] programme at the beginning, we will be able to do our immunisation and provide other services to keep our children healthy, and we need to go to the next phase,” Anthony said.
This next phase, he explained, is where children move into their next level of schooling. As such, the school programme was divided into nursery, primary and secondary levels.
“We intend that during your school years, every child would be screened at least once during their nursery year, at least once during their primary year and at least once during their secondary year. In that way, we will pick up if the child requires medical care,” Anthony said.
Having rolled out the programme in other regions across Guyana earlier this month, the Ministry is working closely with teachers within the Education Ministry to detect challenges a child may be facing as it pertains to their sight, hearing or dental health.
School Health Coordinator, Dr Farrah December explained that if any abnormalities are identified, that child will be deferred to the necessary specialist for follow-up care and treatment.
“Our screenings are focused on the general well-being of the child. So, if the child needs spectacles, if they need hearing aids, this is the programme that will see them through so that they can get the care that they need,” December said.
Also in attendance at the Region Two launch were Regional Health Officer (RHO), Dr Ranjeev Singh; Prime Ministerial Representative in Region Two and Health Community Chair, Arnold Adams; Regional Vice Chairman of Region Two, Humace Oodit; Materials Management Unit (MMU) Director, Vivienne Galasso; United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Supply Chain Consultant, Emeka Ogbolu; and Pharmacy Logistics Officer, Celena Robertson. (Pooja Rambaran)