September 3, 2011.

                                                                Rajendra Pratap Gupta

President

Shri Kapil Sibal

Minister for HRD

Government of India

New Delhi 110001

 

Subject: Making Personal Health & Hygiene an essential part of the school Curriculum

 

Hon’ble Minister,

Greetings from the Disease Management Association of India – DMAI, The Population Health Improvement Alliance.

DMAI – The Population Health Improvement Alliance is a not-for-profit organization, formed by global healthcare leaders. It is the only NGO in India dedicated to chronic disease management in the country, with an objective of overall population health improvement. In the past three years, DMAI has worked at both, International level and within India, to address the issue of India’s healthcare challenges, with the support of patient groups, Industry & policy makers, and wishes to put on record the continuous support DMAI has received from policy makers and the industry.

We are strongly advocating that Child health become the focus area for our policy makers, so that our demographic dividend does not become demographic disaster! This calls for putting child health at the forefront of the health agenda. The starting point for the same, calls for taking healthcare from medical school to primary school i.e. start sensitizing students about healthcare.

During 2009, DMAI conducted the Health Risk Assessment Index (HRAI), and founds that obesity amongst children was alarmingly high, and so was hypertension, which stood at 7 % amongst students. This calls for immediate steps to create awareness and take action right at the school level.

I suggest that the ministry of HRD makes it mandatory to start imparting education on oral health & hygiene from class 2 onwards in pictorial format, and there should

be a separate subject on Personal Health & Hygiene from class four onwards.  I am sure that this one major step would reduce the burden of healthcare over the next 10 years, and will have a lasting impact on younger generation making healthier choices in daily life and reduce the burden of diseases.

Hoping for a positive response from a responsible government on the this one major step to improve child health in the country

We remain at your disposal for any help / assistance that you might need on this matter of great national interest

Yours Sincerely

Rajendra Pratap Gupta

CC:

H.E. Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General, United Nations

H.E. Joseph Diess , President of the UN General Assembly

Hon’ble Deputy Secretary General of the UN General Assembly

Ms. Margaret Chan, Director General, WHO

Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Hon’ble Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GOI

Dr.K. Srinath Reddy, President, PHFI

Dr.Syeda Hameed, Planning Commission, GOI

Sri Sudip Bandopadhyay, MOS- H&FW

Secretary, H&FW , GOI.

K.Desiraju, Additional Secretary, Government of India.

Dr.Sudhir Gupta , ADG, NCD’s. MOHFW.

Board Of Directors , Disease Management Association of India – DMAI , The Population Health Improvement Alliance .