Health education should be compulsory in schools: Jain

Public health should be included in the curriculum of all schools to increase the awareness within children, said Health and Family Welfare Minister of Delhi Satyendar Jain on Sunday. The minister took the social media to reach out the citizens and described the necessity of health education.

"Every school should teach public health awareness as a separate subject which will make children aware of the city and its health," Jain said. He elaborated that vector borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya grow in clear water deposited in the neighbourhood and if the children are aware of this, then they can take initiative to clean their own house.

"From nursery to higher classes if every children get the training of pubic health then will encourage others to make awareness," he said. The minister added that in Delhi, only health awareness can make the city safer.

Significantly, the Delhi government has planned a city wide mass awareness program against vector borne diseases. In this campaign, the department will include common people. The government has already started putting up advertisement for public awareness in the metro, buses, newspapers and FMs.

The minister said, "In our life we take most of the decisions by our own but in case of health, we always depend of the experts. The health education will make children more concerned and they will not be dependent on anyone.

The health department is likely to discuss the suggestion of including public health awareness in the curriculum with the education department soon. The minister suggested that health awareness campaigns should include the children because they are more active.

In this twitter campaign, citizens of Delhi also reacted positively. Many parents said that awareness programmes happen in schools but if it is added as a different subject then it will help the children.