More than 1.2 million learners across Zambia are benefiting from the government’s Healthy Learners Programme, an initiative aimed at improving access to basic healthcare within schools, an area of social spending under fiscal pressure.
The programme is currently being implemented in 45 districts nationwide and has established 1,060 health rooms in government schools, giving learners easier access to essential health services while at school.
Speaking at a media owners’ workshop organised by Healthy Learners under the Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), PDU Head Kusubilo Kamwambi urged the Ministries of Local Government and Rural Development, Education, and Health to ensure that all new classroom blocks include standardised health rooms going forward, in order to enhance learner welfare.
Meanwhile, Media Initiatives on School Health (MISH) Chairperson Jackson Sitengu called on the media to play a greater role in raising awareness of the Healthy Learners Programme, noting that despite being in existence for more than a decade, it has received limited public visibility.
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