The aim is to promote healthy dietary habits and physical exercise among school children and their families, in order to help prevent future generations from developing diabetes and related NCDs.
The proposed project intends to strengthen primary prevention in Tanzania by supporting and promoting the implementation of the National School Health Program (NSHP). The NSHP policy framework has not been implemented in a continued and comprehensive manner due to lack of resources. This project will revitalise NSHP implementation. The Ministry of Health (MoH), Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) and other institutions will be collaborating on this project.48 District School Health Coordinators (DSHC) will be trained as Trainer of Trainers (TOTs) on NCD prevention. The trained TOTs will then train 240 teachers, who will conduct health education sessions for the pupils in their respective schools. The school children will also be involved in promoting healthy dietary habits and lifestyle to parents and other family members by being engaged in a non-invasive screening method (BMI/waist measurement) at schools. The screening results will be assessed by the trained teachers, who will refer the people at risk for follow up at local clinics. Health and education authorities will coordinate and supervise the program activities.Association of Private Health Facilities (APHFTA) will support health and education authorities in their work to incorporate NCD topics into the training curriculum, which will allow the teachers to conduct the training and work in different areas of the country, in order to pass on this knowledge to their peers and students. Educational materials on NCD risk factors and prevention will be developed and disseminated to teachers and students. Capacity of primary health centres located adjacent to the targeted schools will be increased, through training of health care staff on basic NCD prevention and detection. This will ensure that the health workers have the capacity to establish links between their facilities and communities within the targeted programme area. Ultimately, it is the aspiration that by supporting the MoHSW and MoEVT in the implementation of the school health policy, the National Diabetes Primary Prevention programme will be expanded across Tanzania.
- 145 health care staff trained in 77 primary care centres- 48 trainer of trainers (ToTs) trained- 134 schools reached- 288 teachers trained on NCD prevention- 107,818 school children sensitised