The Health Director of Dili municipality, Agustinha da Costa Saldanha, said the implementation of the Healthy Schools program in Dili municipality has been inadequate due to a lack of coordination between the education and health ministries.
She said it was important to educate children about living a healthy lifestyle to prevent non-infectious diseases such as dengue and diarrhea.
“We need to have a plan so that when the health team goes to the schools, they are ready to receive the information,” said Saldanha at her office in Bairro Formosa, Dili.
She said the Dili Health municipality planned to organize a workshop in conjunction with the ministry of education to discuss a strategic plan for the program’s implementation in all schools.
“We need to raise awareness among children about oral hygiene and educate the children on how to protect their teeth, wash their hands and also to avoid dengue,” she said.
She added that schools were the main target as children had a big influence within the family.
However, Education Director of Viqueque municipality Emilio Amaral said the school health program was not functioning well in 2016 as health team organizers had not yet devised a strategic plan.
He said in the past schools had worked with health teams to promote good hygiene practices and the importance of vaccinating, but this had not occurred so far in 2016.
He added they also worked with international organizations to raise awareness among teachers about health education.
