Global Health Strategies to support the Rajasthan Government for School Health Program

Global Health Strategies (GHS) – a New Delhi-based consulting organisation has been approved by the Government of Rajasthan to support the government’s school health program for improving health and cognitive development of school children and adolescents. This was announced at the Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Adarsh Nagar, Ajmer in the presence of the Sachin Pilot, Hon’ble Union Minister of State, Communications and Information Technology alongside district health department officials and hundreds of school children. 

With funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the three-year project will provide technical assistance and operational support to the government health and education departments in government and government-aided schools. The collaboration is expected to improve health outcomes via regular health screening, treatment of illnesses, immunisation, nutritional supplements and health promotion activities for school children.

 The project will initially focus on providing support in two districts in Rajasthan and one district in Delhistate for demonstrating success. On the occasion, Pilot said, “Efforts aimed at teaching children about ways to be healthy and inculcating good habits at a young age not only encourage robust lifelong habits, but can also improve their school performance. Evidence shows that healthy children retain higher levels of cognitive functionality and are likely to attend school more regularly and for longer. I am happy that GHS and the Government of Rajasthan are working together to achieve the objectives of the programme.”

Adding to this Victor Zonana, Principal, GHS said, “It is an honour for Global Health Strategies to be partnering with the government of Rajasthan and the Michael and Susan Dell foundation in helping these critical health services reach the children of Rajasthan. This programme emphasises all that GHS stands for – enabling life enhancing services to reach those who need them the most. “

GHS will assist the government of Rajasthan in identifying and addressing the gaps in the existing program, developing training materials and guidelines for training teachers and health workers and planning and conducting the trainings at district and block levels for the school health program. Additionally, GHS will strengthen the reporting and information system by building capacity, providing on-site support and regular feedback to respective Government officials. 

Citing details of the project, Dr Neeraj Agrawal, Director, Project in-charge, GHS said, “The project activities will be arranged and initiated in three phases – assessment, intervention, and advocacy and communications. Besides supporting implementation of the overall school health package, the project will also support the implementation of government’s new initiatives like mass deworming and iron and folic acid supplementation to prevent anemia in school children in Jodhpur and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan.” GHS staff will also support community outreach through activities such as mothers’ group meetings at urban ward/village level. In rural areas, GHS field coordinators will facilitate regular Village Health and Sanitation Committee meetings.