Western Western Mindanao Mindanao
NOEMI B. EDAGA PIA-IX Regional Director
ARMM, FIT team up to enhance school children’s hygiene, health
ARMM Education Secretary Bart Caudang, Fit for School program Executive Director Alexander Schratz, and Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alonto Adiong (shown from left to right) hold together a sample of a kit of tooth brushes, liquid fluoride paste and hand soaps in a posterity pose after they signed on Thursday afternoon at the ORG conference room a memorandum of agreement mandating the conduct of Essential Health Care Program (EHCP) for school children in the region. Looking on is Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, who aired a profound assurance at the event’s press conference for a sustained implementation of the program in the region amid prospected regional change guards. (BPIARMM/PIA9-BST)
ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Aug 19 (PIA) – The Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao signed a memorandum of agreement with officials of Fit for School Inc. (FIT) on Thursday to formalize commitment for the implementation, institutionalization and sustainability of the Essential Health Care Program (EHCP) in ARMM. The Bureau of Public Information said in a press release, the DepEd-ARMM has team up with FIT to implement a school-based health program designed to improve the hygiene of thousands of children in selected schools in the region this school year.
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FIT is a non-government organization working on improving health condition of children in the country, according to ARMM Education Secretary Bart Caudang. EHCP requires and teaches children to undergo daily hand washing with soap and tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste and bi-annual de-worming, program organizers said. Around 10,800 school children are targeted to be covered by the program in its introductory stage this school year in some schools of the seven schools’ divisions of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur and Marawi City, Caudang said.
ONE MINDANAO
He said the program not only ensures the proper hygiene of children in school but also allow them to develop a health-enhancing habit. FIT officials said EHCP has been successful in 23 provinces in the country and was shown to be effective in reducing the spread of infectious diseases and rate of tooth decay among children. The program’s initial stage will be carried out with funding support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the Deutsche Gessellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). (BPIARMM/RVC-PIA9 BaSulTa)
Saturday, August 20, 2011