Simple health program becomes Asian model

A simple and cheap health program has made the Philippines a model for the rest of Southeast Asia.

School-based health initiative “Fit for School,” which teaches students to wash their hands and brush their teeth regularly, has become a best-practice initiative other Southeast Asian education ministries hope to replicate.

The successful implementation of the program by the Department of Education, local government agencies and the German Agency for International Cooperation was highlighted during the first international training on the program attended by some 25 officials from Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

“These countries (are) very interested to copy what you’re doing in the Philippines or to adapt it to their situation, but following the same principle,” said Dr. Bella Monse, executive director of Fit for School Philippines.

The idea was to use in disease prevention long-proven health practices like handwashing and toothbrushing, said Monse.

She said countries in the region faced the same health problems. Major childhood diseases, she noted, were poverty-related and caused by poor hygiene and nutritional deficiencies.

Monse said children had worms, tooth decay and registered body mass indices below normal.

“These could be tackled (by making) simple, effective interventions like handwashing, toothbrushing part of daily school life,” Monse said.

The basic—though with long-lasting impact on students—solution to a problem received in 2010 the Dr. Edward B. Shils Entrepreneurial Education Award, an American award for transformational leadership.

Education Assistant Secretary Jesus Mateo said Fit for School was currently implemented in 30 provinces, with parents and members of the community contributing to the construction of affordable handwashing facilities.

The project invests P25 on every child per school year. The amount was found to be affordable even for rural schools.

Data showed the project had improved school attendance and student performance. Fewer children contracted preventable diseases and they were sick less often within just a year of project implementation.

School attendance increased by 27 percent and brushing reduced tooth decay by 40 percent, Monse said. Worm infections dropped by 47 percent, she added.

Mateo said the attendance improved because children no longer had toothaches and no intestinal worms.

With its proven impact, the Philippine program would be expanded to cover schools in the remaining 50 provinces, Mateo said.

“What’s essential here is the social preparation that we did. The reason why we are quite successful is that we invested a lot in social preparation … (making) the parents, the children, the local government (aware of) how important health and nutrition is to education,” Mateo said.

Monse underscored the need for strict implementation. “You have to implement it rather strictly. If you are lax, it will not work,” she said.