Centres to treat BMC schoolchildren with diseases, deficiencies

Taking the central government's initiative of Rashtriya Bal Swasth Karyakram (RBSK) ahead, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

Taking the central government's initiative of Rashtriya Bal Swasth Karyakram (RBSK) ahead, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will start independent centres in all its major hospitals where BMC school students will be checked and treated for any kind of deficiencies. The civic body has started health screening of students of civic-run schools across the city. Students found suffering from deficiencies or diseases will be sent to the centres at KEM, Sion or Nair for further treatment. These centres will immediately start treatment to cure deficiencies or diseases in time.

On Monday, the BMC started its first health screening programme at Mohammad Umar Rajjab BMC Urdu School at Madanpura. Under this programme, students from Std I to Std X of Rajjab School and other students from nearby schools will be screened for health issues. Under the RBSK initiative, authorities are aiming at early identification and early intervention for children from birth to 18 years to cover defects at birth, deficiencies, diseases, development delays, including disabilities.

According to officials, these proposed centres will provide treatment to people from poor and economically weak backgrounds. There are 3.96 lakh students in BMC schools across the city. Additional Municipal Commissioner IA Kundan, who is in charge of the health department said, "We will also form a team which will be assigned the task of spreading awareness about the civic body's initiative." As per the data available with the Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, out of every 100 babies born in this country annually, 6 to 7 have a birth defect. This means around 17 lakh birth defects annually in the country and accounts for 9.6 per cent of all newborn deaths.

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