As part of its efforts to maintain the health and safety of students and improve the quality of school health services, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has launched 200 mobile dental clinics to examine students and implement preventive measures. This comes in line with the objectives of the dental caries prevention initiative to utilize these mobile clinics in activates and festivals in malls.
In continuation of its efforts to promote the health of students and in pursuit of achieving one of its strategic objectives of boosting prevention against health risks, MOH has launched 1,570 clinics in selected schools (for boys and girls) across the Kingdom. Doctors and nurses in healthcare centers implement the school health program, mainly: school-based screening program, Rashaqa initiative, field visit program, health awareness program, health survey and children safety program.
It is noteworthy that MOH has recently announced the continuation of the program (exploratory screening) for male and female students in its third phase, after the great success achieved by the program in the first and second phases, which targeted 50% of students in the first and fourth grades in all schools in the Kingdom.
The program coincides with a number of other programs and initiatives conducted by the Ministries of Health and Education, including: (Rashaqa) Program, which aims to reduce obesity rates by urging improvement of dietary behavior and physical activity. There is also another program called (Dental Screening Program), which was launched last year, with the participation of mobile clinics. The programs also included (Eye Health Program); to examine kindergarten pupils, detect refractive defects, trachoma and laziness of the eye. During the current academic year, (Eye Health Program) targets 100% of kindergarten pupils. Other programs include (Fitness Screening Program), (School Health Awareness Program) and (Healthy Schools Program), all of which aim to improve schools potential, and provide a safe and healthy environment to encourages learning.
It is to be noted that MOH's school health has examined more than 800,000 students during the first phase of the program, last academic year. All detected cases, among students of the primary school, have been referred to specialists, 3% of them with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning difficulties 6%, poor hearing 11%, spine curvature 0.8%, depression 1.6%, dental caries 40% and obesity 7.2% for intermediate and secondary school targeted students. Text messages were sent to all parents about their children's health; the detected cases were placed on a medical track for early intervention. MOH called on parents to follow up on the results of the examination, whether in schools or primary healthcare centers, and be keen to complete the treatment plan in case of any health observations about their children.
These awareness activities come in continuation of the efforts undertaken by MOH; to maintain the health and safety of students, alleviate the burden of diseases, and promote health awareness and encourage the adoption of proper healthy behavior, in line with the initiatives of MOH in the National Transformation Program 2020 (NTP) and Saudi Vision 2030.