DepEd launches personal hygiene, oral care program

CEBU, Philippines – The Department of Education is implementing a comprehensive personal hygiene and oral healthcare program for students at a lower cost to decrease absenteeism and dropouts in schools.

For just P25 per pupil, DepEd aims to cut by half the incidence of infectious diseases among preschool and elementary school students and stop absenteeism by reducing infectious diseases by 30 to 50 percent and dental problems by 40 to 50 percent.

Toothache, diarrhea, respiratory ailments, and soil-transmitted worm infections were prevalent in preschool and school children causing absenteeism and dropping-out of school, according to DepEd records.

DepEd Secretary Jesli Lapus said that most of the diseases were caused by hygiene problems and studies by DepEd showed that these diseases could be controlled by “simple, cost-effective preventive measures implemented on mass scale in schools and day care centers.”

To this end, the DepEd partnered with local government units and the private sector for its Essential Health Care Package program, Lapus said.

It was introduced last year and the program has benefited some 600,000 children in 20 provinces. When it was first launched in selected schools, President Gloria Arroyo herself demonstrated proper hand washing to schoolchildren, the education chief said.

The package, to be distributed to preschoolers up to Grade VI pupils, contains a toothbrush, toothpaste, and soap; these cost only P25 per student.

“We will continue deworming and hand washing activities as well as distributing oral health care package until we can make personal hygiene and oral health an unshakeable habit among our schoolchildren,” Lapus said.

He said that participating schools would conduct daily hand washing with soap and water. A nail cutter will also be made available in classrooms to keep the fingernails groomed.

Daily supervised tooth brushing drills using fluoride toothpaste will be done in schools while deworming tablets will be provided by the Department of Health and administered by school health personnel twice a year.

The National Oral Health Survey conducted by the DepEd from November 2005 to February 2006 revealed that nearly all schoolchildren had dental caries, with an average of nine decayed teeth in every mouth. — Jasmin R. Uy/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)