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KARACHI, March 11: There is an annual allocation of only paisas 70 for the healthcare of each child in government schools in Karachi.
According to the statistics available with the Karachi School Health Service (KSHS), at present the budgetary allocation for the health cover of 0.6 million children in 1,000 selected schools in the city is about Rs0.4 million.
The KSHS was disbanded in 2002, but the same year it was revived by the provincial government. Only 250 doctors have been posted in the KSHS to look after the health of the 0.6 million schoolchildren. The KSHS provides service to 50 per cent of the government-run schools.
“The low budgetary allocation has forced us to seek a close coordination with various national organizations to address a wide range of healthcare needs of the kids,” said KSHS Deputy Director Dr Asif Zaman.
Speaking at the inaugural session of a training programme for doctors associated with the service on Tuesday, he said there was a dire need for enlisting the support of healthcare bodies as well as the community.
“The KSHS is currently in the process of restructuring to make an optimum use of available infrastructure and manpower.”
Out of the 423 doctors attached with the service, he added, 150 had been transferred to the interior of the province in 2000- 2001, which badly affected the capacity to cater to some 1,000 selected schools out of a total of 2,314 in the city.
Dr Zaman said that despite assurances on part of the Sindh education department for necessary financial support to the health of school-going children, no concrete measure had been adopted so far.
In the given backdrop, he said, the KSHS had identified varied spheres of health needs of local students and was initiating necessary training programmes for school doctors.
DENTAL CARE: The KSHS has embarked upon a dental healthcare programme for children in government schools.
The coordinator of the programme, Dr Anwar Hussain, in a presentation at the orientation programme said since dental ailments were not restricted to one part of the body, there was a need to create awareness among the public.
The programme would begin simultaneously in 58 different schools in the Gulberg Town on March 17, covering an approximate number of 29,000 students.
Four teams, each comprising three dental surgeons from the school health service as well as those volunteering their service, would visit schools and besides providing necessary orientation to the students on methods to maintain dental health would also examine those diagnosed with any dental disease.
The exercise would be gradually replicated in all other 2,314 schools (517 for girls and 1797 boys) in the city during a target period of quarter to four years.
Dr Navaid Rashid of the Liaquat Ali Khan College of Dentistry regretted that while prevention was turning to be a key word across the globe more emphasis was laid on treatment in a developing country like Pakistan. Dentists, however, at all costs needed to keep themselves updated and abreast with the latest developments in the field, he added.
Discussing the issue of trauma, he said children were quite prone to different forms of teeth-induced traumas which needed extremely careful handling and absolute composure on part of healthcare providers.
He advised the doctors not to overlook even the otherwise benign swelling of lips or ulcers in the mouth. Mentioning that leukemia and blood cancers were increasingly witnessed among children, he said dentists while examining kids should ensure actual cause of bleeding.
Dr Mohsin Girach of the Jinnah Medical and Dental College, discussing cleft lips and cleft palate, said the conditions are easy to be treated through timely intervention.
According to him, there are about 200 different cleft palate- induced deformities and that any negligence may not only cast an extremely negative psychological impact on kids but he may even lose hearing and speaking capabilities.
Dr Zafreen Anjum and others also spoke.—APP
