Our Healthy Schools Program is science-based, well thought-through from a design perspective, and has demonstrated a >15% increase in diabetes awareness and behaviour change. Results over the past 10 years are being validated with Stanford’s CARE. Arogya World is now in an aggressive scale-up mode to take this program across different states of India to make a more significant public health impact. Arogya has partnered with the Child in Need Institute (CINI) to implement Arogya’s school-based Diabetes Awareness and Prevention Program across 5 districts of West Bengal – Murshidabad, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri and South24 Parganas and educate 2,14,403 middle school children. They will use an innovative community-based approach that CINI and Arogya evolved during COVID times, and leverage the presence of frontline health workers they already work with.
“With CINI in West Bengal our school health work is slowly turning into a health movement as the local village panchayat members and Asha workers are voluntarily getting involved because they see “value” in our program”, shares Nandini Ganesh, Arogya World.
All the best to Arogya team members – Dr Smriti Pahwa and Nandini Ganesh, the CINI team Arnab Karar, and Dr Santwana Adhikari. This project will be an important contribution to improving the lives of many vulnerable children.