Child health interventions programmes launched in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE The International Center for Child and Public Health (ICPH) at Shanti Ashram has launched

The International Center for Child and Public Health (ICPH) at Shanti Ashram has launched a series of child health interventions programmes, including paediatric eye screening, in view of the World Health Day which falls on April 7.

Coimbatore District Collector G.S. Sameeran launched a paediatric eye screening programme of ICPH in association with Aravind Eye Hospital and an awareness programme for children with the support of Young Indians (Yi) to keep them safe from sexual abuse at a function held on Saturday.

Under the eye screening programme — ‘Eliminating Childhood Blindness in Coimbatore: Training, Screening, Evaluation and Management led by Aravind Eye Hospital’— a mass eye screening camp will be held for students of preschools, elementary schools and high schools in Coimbatore rural, said Shanti Ashram president and ICPH founder Kezevino Aram.

Under ‘Masoom’, education programmes aimed at keeping students safe from sexual abuse will be held in 12 schools in the district through Yi. Around 12,000 children are expected to be covered under this programme, she said.

Launching the initiatives and the World Health Day activities, Mr. Sameeran said that the district administration had undertaken a series of measures in health, nutrition and education to make the return to school a positive and affirmative experience.

Kalpana Narendran, Head of the Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology at Aravind Eye Hospital, also spoke at the event.

The event was jointly organised by Shanthi Ashram, ICPH, Aravind Eye Hospital, Yi and Indian Academy of Pediatrics.