Public Health Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), in their quest to ensure quality health structure within the free Senior High School system, is urging the Ghana Education Service (GES) to ensure students bring to school their immunization records.
The rationale they mentioned is to ascertain whether or not the students have been immunized during their childhood against the killer diseases which would inform their decisions as practitioners during a screening of all first-year students under the policy.
This was made known at a two-day National Educational Forum organized by the National Council of Parent-Teacher Association (NCPTA) dubbed, “Free SHS, The Role of Parents in the Sustainable Implementation of the Policy.”
The health awareness became increasingly more at the SHS when there was an outbreak of what the Health Minister described as Influenza type ‘A’ that has the H1N1 Pandemic strain.
It claimed four lives and more than two scores were hospitalized.
Mrs. Gifty Ben-Aryee, speaking on behalf of the Director General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare and Director for Public Health, Dr. Patrick
Aboagye, noted that health screening carried out in 2016/17 academic year did not dwell more on their immunization status.
And that this time around, they’ve asked GES to provide such information in their admission letters.
Meanwhile, she also revealed that it is quite surprising that tooth decay is prevalent amongst male students in over 600 schools screened out of 700 schools targeted.
The females were particular about their personal hygiene and took good care of themselves.
Even though they are yet to stage this year’s screening, Mrs. Gifty Ben-Aryee called on all headmasters to embrace the exercise and ensure that all their students are screened.
Some parents also advised their wards not to take part in the screening since they feared their blood could be used for “rituals”.
That, she debunked saying the Ghana Health Service does not engage in such barbaric acts.
Ghana |Atinkaonline.com |Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
