Quezon City is shelling out P2.5 million to ensure cleaner and healthier students in its public schools.
Some 100,000 preschoolers and elementary pupils have initially been enrolled in the city government’s essential health care program which will teach them basic hygienic practices such as washing their hands and brushing their teeth.
Part of the fund will be used for the distribution of a basic health care set which includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, hand soap and a deworming tablet. Some will go to the improvement of water and sanitation facilities in public schools.
The implementation of the essential health care program is based on an ordinance signed in October by Mayor Herbert Bautista which is patterned after the Department of Education’s project that aims to improve the personal hygiene of public school students.
Under the program, emphasis will be given to teaching the students to brush their teeth and wash their hands. They will also undergo dental examinations and deworming twice a year.
The DepEd had previously observed that the health status of public school pupils is “alarmingly poor. ” It also found that “dental cavities, infectious diseases (respiratory tract infections and diarrhea) and worm infestation are the most common hygiene deficiency-related infectious diseases in public schools which are due to lack of water and functional sanitary facilities.”