ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH SERVICE IMPLEMENTATION IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF NANGARHAR

Abstract

When we talk about a system of HealthCare delivery which is functional within a school or college a term School Health Program is coined. The reason of this particular service is to create awareness in order to promote healthy living practices early on in life. Pakistan is very far down the road when it comes to healthcare. The under 5 mortality rates of Pakistan is 74.6 per 1000 live births and the infant mortality rate as of 2019 is 60.2 per 1000 live births. On an average 1.2 billion children are reaching the school going age globally. In some households as early as 6-month-old children are sent to daycares and schools since mothers have to rejoin work etc. The main aim of school health services is to help children obtain full benefit from their education. The functions and regulations of school health services are the control of communicable diseases, record keeping, health appraisals, supervision of health of school children. To evaluate the health of individuals objectively is an aspect of school health services. One of the  very prominent issues nowadays is mental health and emotional issues in school going children, health appraisals give us the opportunity to single out students with such disturbances. In some cases, early detection of such disturbances can lead drastic differences in outcomes of such diseases. While stating all this we must state that school health services are a coordinated system that ensures a continuum of care from school to home to community healthcare provider and back. (Small, L., Majer, S., Allensworth, D., Farquhar, K., Kann, L., & Pateman, C. , 1995 ). The concept of school health services was initiated in the colonial American era by Benjamin Franklin who advocated a healthful situation and promoted the primary subject of physical education in schools (Khalid, 2017). In 1850 Lemeul Shattuck wrote a report of Sanitary Commission of Massachusetts, after which the medical and public health sectors began to unravel the pivotol role schools could play in curbing communicable diseases, therby preventing a lot of public health problems. WHO in 1995 recognized this role andput in motion the `Global School Health initiative`. This programme was designed to mobilize and strengthen health promotion and education activities at the local, national and regional and global levels. (World Health Organization, 2000) . This initiative was designed to improve the health of students, school personnels, families and other members of the community. Although infectious disease cases among children are fewer in numbers and symptoms are generally insignificant, they cannot be ignored. At the present time due to the disruption and closure of schools around the world, there will be a negative impact on children’s right to education, mental health and growth (World Health Organization, 2020). Sooner or later countries around the world will require to  develop  strategies to protect children’s health and decide to reopen the educational institutions. Schools are ideal places for the spreadof infectious diseases due to which awareness and guidance on their prevention and management is required to be provided  to students, parents, teachers and school staff. Greatest impact on young minds happens at Educational institutions and any awareness is maximal in such places.