Health officials stress on preventive rather than curative initiatives

Experts call for clean drinking water and hygiene in schools

PESHAWAR: As the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government approves a multi Sectoral Steering Committee for deworming initiative of school-age children across the province, health officials, however, say the government should focus on preventive measures rather than curative measures.

The government formed a committee which will be creating awareness about preventive measures and prepare for the deworming initiative. The committee will also provide supplements such as iron and folic acid for adolescent girls at schools.

A letter was issued earlier this week which stated that the preparation for the deworming activity will be made with the collaboration of relevant principal government departments and technical assistance partners.

Health officials specifically those dealing with children’s diseases say ‘contaminated water’ was the primary source of spreading these worms. Furthermore, it is vital that drinking water pipelines should be immediately separated from sewerage water.

“If the government plans to address an issue involving school going children, the government should first provide basins in classrooms and take care of the dirty toilets in schools,” Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) Head of Pediatric Ward Dr Musa Kalim told The Express Tribune.



Dr Kalim stated that in Western countries they focused more on initiatives to prevent the illness from occurring altogether rather than rely on measures to heal the problem once it had already come into being.

“Besides prevention, awareness is a must and I would suggest that government include paediatricians in the committee since they are in a better position to point out loopholes and discover effective solutions for the problem,” Kalim said.

The steering committee approved by the government, according to the document, will be discussing the financial contribution of the government and the technical assistance partners.

“The technical assistance partners, for the purpose of utilising the findings of the out-of-school children survey, have ordered that maximum out-reach be provided for out-of-school children,” read the ToRs, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune.

The letter also mentioned that terms of reference for the committee included that technical assistance partners train the health staff and teachers as well.

The committee includes secretary health as its chairman besides special secretary elementary and secondary educations, special secretary local government department, director general health services, managing director private schools regulatory authority and chief economist planning and development department as its members.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23^rd, 2018.