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Unicef launches health education project in UAE

Dubai, December 24, 2013

The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) has joined forces with the UAE ministries of health and education to launch a key project to boost students’ awareness on how to lead a healthy lifestyle

The pilot project, being launched with the help of Seha ambulatory health services and du will run for one year in 18 government secondary schools across the UAE, with two in each of the emirates, Al Ain and Western Province.

The project addresses the challenges in delivering health education to students and promotes the use of active, participatory learning activities for developing knowledge, attitudes and skills for students to make healthy choices.

Dr Ibrahim El- Ziq, the Gulf area representative, Unicef said: “Research has shown that an active participatory learning approach is the most effective method for developing knowledge and bringing about positive change. Through the School Health Education project we hope to educate as many secondary school children as we can on the benefits of adopting healthy lifestyles; which contributes to the overall strategy of the health and education authorities in the UAE."

"We are grateful to our partners who are instrumental in bringing the project to life. Together, we are empowering children to shape their own lives in the future," he stated.

Focus group discussions with school nurses and data collected from the health authorities will determine the health issues and behaviours, as well as the availability of capacities and resources in schools. Based on this, a manual for the delivery of health education workshops using a skills-based approach will be developed, said the top official.

Alongside the development of participatory teaching methods for health education topics, as set by the Ministry of Health and SEHA ambulatory health services, the programme will train school nurses to effectively apply this approach in the delivery of these sessions to students.

Finally, this should lead to the development of an action plan to mainstream the skills-based health education programme across all government secondary schools in the UAE, he stated.

Nasser Khalifa Al Budoor, the director of Dubai Medical District and director of Minister’s Office, Ministry of Health, said the ministry has always supported and encouraged the establishment of effective partnerships for implementing national plans on which the development of human resources and welfare depend.

"Due to the close relationship between health and education, we always aspire to having people who are aware of the methods of protecting their health, preventing disease, practicing   healthy   behavior   and   maintaining an environment free of dangers," he noted.

Aisha Alsiri, the director of Nutrition and School Health, Ministry of Education said: "One of the ministry’s goals is to promote activities which develop life skills for students in order to create a healthy generation of students as they represent a significant proportion of the community as they are a quarter of the population."

The school provides a great opportunity to take care of health and education by giving school workers health education skills to plan, implement, and evaluate school health programs, and to provide them with the skills and abilities necessary for early detection of health problems, she stated.

Hala Badri, the executive VP, Brand and Communications, du, said: "As a UAE national corporate entity, we believe that our role in the society goes above and beyond providing telecom services."

Seha CEO Mohamed Hawas Al Sadid said the ambulatory healthcare services entrusts its healthcare personnel to effect wide-reaching positive changes in society.

"Dissemination of highly communicative slogans and messages by our school nurses will go a long way in inculcating a healthy lifestyle among our kids," he stated.

"As the sole provider of health services in Abu Dhabi’s public schools, AHS’ school nurses are vital spokes in the wheel promoting the good health and success of our new generations, exemplifying the motto “Healthy minds in healthy bodies,” he added.-TradeArabia News Service




Tags: School | Unicef | health education |

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