About 9 million students examined within the early detection campaign in primary schools

The Ministry of Health and Population announced that 8,995,602 students in various schools in the Republic have been examined, as part of the president’s initiative for early detection of diseases (anemia, obesity and dwarfism) among primary school students, since its launch in the academic year on September 29, 2024.

Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, explained that the initiative aims to examine primary school students from Egyptians and non-Egyptians residing in Egypt, noting that the initiative will continue to operate throughout the academic year in all governorates of the Republic.

Abdel Ghaffar added that the initiative’s services include conducting a medical survey of students, measuring weight and height, and the percentage of hemoglobin in the blood, to detect malnutrition diseases, and developing the necessary mechanisms to improve students’ health, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education.

For his part, Ahmed Mustafa, head of the General Authority for Health Insurance, said that cases infected with any of these diseases covered by the initiative are transferred to health insurance clinics to complete the necessary examinations and dispense treatment for free. These students are also given a “follow-up card” containing their personal data, in order to follow up on them periodically and ensure their health status continuously through health insurance clinics in all governorates of the republic.

Tamer Samir, coordinator of the presidential initiative, indicated that the number of medical teams participating in the initiative reached 2,000 teams, who were trained on examination and diagnosis protocols, and were also trained on infection control standards.

Samir confirmed that all the tasks of the initiative are carried out with taking all precautionary and preventive measures, noting that the survey is carried out throughout the year to prevent overcrowding among students, and health education teams in the governorates provide awareness to students on how to adhere to precautionary measures to maintain their health, noting that the hotline “106” has been allocated to respond to citizens’ inquiries regarding the initiative.