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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt seeks to start health education as graded subject in schools -Vidya Krishnan and Prashant K Nanda

Govt seeks to start health education as graded subject in schools -Vidya Krishnan and Prashant K Nanda

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published Published on May 7, 2013   modified Modified on May 7, 2013
-Live Mint


Move part of strategy to counter growing incidence of non-communicable diseases; course to be part of 2014 academic curriculum

Concerned by the growing incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCD), the government wants to introduce a new, graded subject in school focusing on health education in classes IV to X.

The course will be a part of 2014's academic curriculum and is being designed by the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW). The ministries of health and human resource development (HRD) are looking to initially introduce the subject in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) affiliated schools across India.

India was on the verge of an NCD epidemic that could only be controlled by educating children, director general of health servicesJagdish Prasad said at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday.

"Diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases have an enormous economic burden. We have discussed the subject with the education ministry and want to make health education mandatory for all schools at the earliest," he said. "NIHFW is still giving a final shape to the curriculum. This will be completed in the next six months. We will be able to start the course in CBSE schools by next academic year."

Discussions are currently under way about how this will be implemented, said a senior HRD ministry official who didn't want to be named as the person is not authorized to speak to the media.

"The CBSE is now open to adding courses which have a mass appeal and benefit the people at large. Even the (HRD) minister (M.M. Pallam Raju) is in favour of introducing courses, which can benefit commoners," said the official, requesting anonymity. "Unlike sex education, this subject won't face any opposition."

The HRD ministry said NIHFW will need to approach CBSE and the National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT) before finalizing course content. The government-run NCERT is an advisory body on academic matters, such as curricula

After being implemented in CBSE schools, the ministries can consult state education boards on extending the programme further, said the official cited above.

"The Council of Boards of School Education in India (COBSE) can be roped in here," the official said.

COBSE is the federation of all school boards in the country.

The health ministry, along with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co., will be organizing a two-day summit in June to manage the NCD disease burden with special focus on policy interventions to control diabetes. India has the highest number of diabetics in the world.

The health ministry is exploring the possibilities of public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives and the involvement of industry to complement the government's programme.

"It has become imperative for industry stakeholders to collaborate, deliberate and collectively develop prevention and management strategies,"Melt Van Der Spuy, chairman and managing director of Eli Lilly's India division said at the news conference. "Supporting diabetes prevention and management initiatives is an essential part of Lilly's ongoing commitment to fighting this growing epidemic. We are looking at exploring innovative approaches towards managing diabetes in India."

India has more than 61 million diabetic patients, up 12% from 50.8 million last year, according to the health ministry. This number will rise to 100 million by 2030, up from an earlier estimate of 87 million, as per the health ministry data. According to the International Diabetes Federation's fifth diabetes atlas, there's a 9.2% prevalence of the disease in the 20-79 age group, an incidence that puts India second only to China.

In 2012, diabetes killed 983,000 people in India and is one of the leading diseases causing deaths in the country.


Live Mint, 6 May, 2013, http://www.livemint.com/Politics/72jLjnTHQiHci2c8f8aaFJ/Govt-seeks-to-start-health-education-as-graded-subject-in-sc.html


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