DPH tells TN health officials: Implement Union govt scheme of screening kids born with medical conditions

CHENNAI: The Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH) has instructed the district health officers, city health officers and medical officers to focus on the implementation of Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) for early identification, intervention, and management of 30 medical conditions affecting children from birth to 18 years.

Under RBSK, defects at birth, deficiencies, diseases, developmental delays, including disabilities are screened and referred for further intervention. The initiative is aimed at enhancing survival by enabling early detection and timely management of illnesses, thereby reducing child morbidity and mortality.

A total of 38 lakh children under 6 years are screened at anganwadi centres (AWC) twice a year and around 69 lakh children aged 6-18 years are screened in government and government-aided schools by 805 RBSK teams of health officials covering around 1.45 crore children in a year.

This financial year, at least 1 crore children have been screened and 4.35 lakh children have been identified with various health concerns. Out of this, around 1.14 lakh were referred to district early intervention centres, and the remaining were managed by health teams. At least 2,000 children particularly with birth defects have been advised surgical intervention, and 1,813 interventions have been completed.

Officials were also told to meticulously plan the Advanced Tour Programme (ATP) of the RBSK team and share it with the School Education and Social Welfare Department for the preliminary preparation. Officials have to ensure monthly schedules are programmed into GPS devices for monitoring deviations.

Attendance of the RBSK team should also be marked daily and monitored. The teams shall also submit reports through the Education Management Information System (EMIS).

Officials have to mobilise children identified with any defect or illness to district early intervention centres instead of simply informing the children, parent or teacher. The list of children who need surgical intervention should be shared on a monthly basis to the deans and joint director and the eligibility under Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme should also be checked.

Under RBSK, defects at birth, deficiencies, diseases, developmental delays, including disabilities are screened and referred for further intervention