State launches massive health screening in govt schools, to cover nearly 3 cr children

Over 12,000 teams, including staffers from Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram and community health officers, are working across the state to carry out the check-ups.

The list of tests include X-Ray, ECG, Blood test, 2D Echo, sonography and CT Scan, among others. “We have formed task forces at the district levels to check the reports and analysis. Also, if a child is found severely ill, he/she is also being referred to the nearby government tertiary-care hospitals for further treatment,” said Heramb Kulkarni, founder of Corona Ekal Mahila Punarvasan Samiti, an NGO working for Covid-19 affected families in the state.

In the last one week, nearly one crore children have been checked for diseases like anemia, eye diseases, dental disease, heart disease, tuberculosis, leprosy, cancer, asthma and epilepsy, among others. “We are holding camps in schools, anganwadi centres and other educational institutes for the screening. We aim to make a health map with the data,” he said.

However, local activists also pointed out the need to screen an estimated 8 lakh children who dropped out of schools during the pandemic. “So many poor families have lost their sole bread earner, pushing the children into manual labour and forcing them to migrate, along with the widowed mothers. The government also needs to run diagnostic tests on them as they are more vulnerable,” said Kulkarni.