In the year 2011 , VHAG in collaboration with its prestigious CSR partner “Sanofi India Ltd”, a renowned multinational pharmaceutical company ventured on a project of conducting school health camps in schools in Verna and surrounding areas to reach out and provide early diagnosis & timely care to the children .

This unique project was initiated to evaluate the health of the children, coming from low economic background and vulnerable communities. The social and economic conditions of the parents, force them to pay less attention to the health needs of their children. Majority of the students who were found suffering from various diseases, belonged to low socio-economic class. While some of them are migrants, whose parents are engaged in unskilled labor or are working as daily wage laborers in factories, others are locals engaged in farming.

The health camps conducted in the past 6 years proved to be a great success as it covered all the major schools of Verna and surrounding areas and offered healthcare services to over more than 20,000 students from 1^th to 10^th Std.

Number of children covered in Sanofi project in the last 7 years

VHAG successfully screened students for General common illnesses and conducted some special camps with the help of Dentists & Ophthalmic assistants. Since VHAG has previously been focusing more on screening of school students, need was felt to scale up the project by providing equal importance towards screening, awareness & timely treatments and also arranging education to students about common health problems and infections and preventive measures for the same.

There has been a very good response from the schools to the unique initiative taken up by Sanofi India Ltd. Large number of students have benefitted especially those in whom early detection of certain conditions, referrals and quick treatments have happened.

PROJECT PURPOSE

The main purpose of this project is to evaluate and promote the health of school students through direct intervention.

The purpose of choosing schools in & around Verna area, because most of the students studying are from Migrant communities, parents involved in labor jobs or as unskilled workers in industries around and literacy ratio low, lack of awareness about health hence leaving the general health complaints in family and that of children always ignored and thereby chance of increasing complications of the disease.

The Activities were mainly done in four steps:

1. Conducting health check up with the help of General Physicians to check immunization status, nutritional deficiencies, particularly anemia, personal hygiene, cardiovascular problems, eye sight, etc., and assessment of developmental parameters (height, weight), physical debility etc.
2. Conducting dental screenings and necessary treatments, referrals for further treatments and organize dental counseling to improve oral hygiene and prevent further oral health issues.
3. Providing referral list to schools & follow up with the school management/parents about the action taken by the parents of children identified with problems. 
4. Conducting health awareness sessions in schools on different topics & one to one awareness.

School Checkups

Camps were conducted in 12 schools in Verna and around areas this year resulting in a total of 3371 students getting benefit of activities.

• General Checkups

Pre- camp activities:

1. Contacted schools and confirmation of dates with principal.
2. Contacted general physicians and confirmed with them about camp to be held in school.
3. Confirmed other partner agencies for dental and Eye check ups
4. Confirmed with VHAG team for assisting in camp

The following activities were routinely followed during the general health check up camps.

1. Registration: Filing up case papers with students details.
2.  Measurement of development parameters(height/Weight)
3. Screening by the General practitioner (available health fraternity)
4. Mentioning the readings/observations on case papers and students health cards
5. Keeping record of referred students or those who need secondary attentions and providing the same to the principal.
6. Also one to one interactions with students during checkups on their and family health issues.

Regular health examinations are essential to keeping the children healthy and up-to-date on immunizations against many dangerous childhood diseases.

• Dental checkups

Good dental health - and good dental coverage - is a great way to keep one’s whole body in good shape.

The kind of poor dental hygiene that produces gum disease, cavities and other infections can have larger effects on your overall health. That's why it's important to keep one’s mouth healthy with regular brushing and flossing, in addition to periodic cleanings and check-ups with your dentist. Setting this as a habit at a young age can ensure healthy oral condition for many years to come. In order to promote dental health by inculcating good brushing habits in the children, the dental camps were conducted in the same schools covering over 1123 students.

• Dental Counseling

Many oral health problems, including dental caries, malocclusion, and fluorosis, begin in childhood and can be prevented through regular preventive dental care and counseling, with the help of Dentist from Dr. Fernando Noronha’s Multispecialty Dental Clinic and Implant centre. The students were counseled how to prevent dental caries and the importance of maintaining oral hygiene.

• Ophthalmic checkups

The eye check up camps was conducted by the optometrists from Mukta Opticians.

The students who found with major health illness were referred to Goa Medical College, Bambolim and nearby Primary Health Center for secondary treatment. The school principle and children’s parents were informed regarding the same.

• Health awareness sessions:

Health has become one of the highly prioritized matters that people are concerned and cared about. The old saying which goes that “Prevention is better than cure”. Is very much valid even now. Taking necessary precaution and awareness are always better before the primary symptoms convert into chronic illness.

Once the disease starts spreading, the consequences can sometimes be troublesome, dangerous and to the extent of life threatening. Ultimately, creating health awareness and taking proper prevention against disease is of utmost importance.

And in case of school students “early detection and timely treatment” plays significant role towards health of students thus by increasing their concentration towards studies and increasing the quality of life as “A healthy outside starts from inside.”

• Distribution of health kits

In order to improve personal hygiene levels specially designed health kits were given to students, which contains Soap, Oil Bottle, comb, nail cutter , toothbrush & tooth paste for daily usage so students can keep themselves neat and clean and improvements in general hygiene levels.