Tshwane receives new wheels to advance health outcomes in disadvantaged schools

Seven new ‘wheels’ have been gifted to school health teams across the province to extend health infrastructure and programmes to poorly serviced areas.

Gauteng MEC for health and wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko on February 14 handed over the newly acquired integrated school health programme (ISHP) vehicles to the five Gauteng municipalities.

Nkomo-Ralehoko said the ISHP was an effort to improve the provision of comprehensive health services and remove the barriers health created for education among learners.

“The programme focuses on screening for barriers to effective learning and teaching such as vision, hearing, oral hygiene, physical and mental health,” she said.

“Our school health team will now be easily accessible and mobile to provide regular health screening and edutainment, which includes health education and health promotion through fun and games,” said Nkomo-Ralehoko.

She said the vehicles were allocated to the five district health services as follows:

– Johannesburg 2

– Tshwane 1

– Ekurhuleni 1

– West Rand 1

– Sedibeng 2 (Entuthukweni Primary School in Kagiso, Krugersdorp.)

Nkomo-Ralehoko said her department aimed to increase the number of ISHP vehicles in the districts to 27 in the next financial year.

“We will look to adding 20 to the seven in the next financial year, depending on budget availability.”

Nkomo-Ralehoko also took the time to observe school health nurses as they administered the human papillomavirus vaccine to female learners to protect them against cervical cancer later in life.

The HPV campaign is currently underway in all public primary and special schools until March 20 and focuses on girls from nine years old.

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