School health services in Enugu East, Nigeria: perspectives from a resourcepoor setting


Submitted: 23 October 2016
Accepted: 26 April 2017
Published: 29 August 2017
Abstract Views: 3911
PDF: 1001
HTML: 1609
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

School health services (SHS) have widespread impact on the health of a large number of children with implications on access to primary health care especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to assess health services in primary schools in Enugu East Nigeria. Thirty-three head teachers of primary schools in Enugu east Nigeria and officials of Ministry of Education were interviewed using a questionnaire adapted from school health evaluation scale. Four private schools had health personnel. Only six private schools had a health room. Two public schools had a functional first aid box. There were no health records available in any of the schools. School lunch was given by only one private school. Of a maximum of 45, public and private schools had a mean score of 10.3 and 12.7 respectively on the school health evaluation scale (P=0.01). Three schools only attained the minimum acceptable score of 19. Health services are at a minimal level in primary schools in Enugu East Nigeria. A state school health policy should be developed through inter-sectoral collaboration of the relevant stakeholders to use the platform provided by schools to ensure access to primary health care and also act as bridge for more formal medical care for school children.

Adaobi I. Bisi-Onyemaechi, Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus

Lecturer 1,

Department of Paediatrics, University of Nigeria

Bisi-Onyemaechi, A. I., Akani, A. N., Ikefuna, A. N., Tagbo, B. N., Chinawa, J. M., & Chikani, U. N. (2017). School health services in Enugu East, Nigeria: perspectives from a resourcepoor setting. Healthcare in Low-Resource Settings, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/hls.2017.6357

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations