The Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) completed the implementation of the electronic health file program and included all public schools in the country in the electronic health file project for students at the beginning of January 2021.

The program comes within the framework of developing school health services provided in all public schools with the aim of providing distinguished and high-quality services in accordance with the highest international standards to promote student health, which is consistent with the objectives of the second national health strategy that pays much attention to the health of children and adolescents.

Executive Director of the Operations Department at the PHCC Dr. Samya Al Abdulla said that with the beginning of the current year the launch of the electronic student health file program was completed in all 281 public schools in the country, while 326 school health nurses were trained to use program in the right and proper way.

She added that the importance of the project lies in its reliance on modern electronic systems to manage students' health files in school clinics, in which the student's electronic health file is transferred instead of the paper file, as the file includes all the student's personal data, his health information, in addition to the student's medical history, and the vaccinations that he received in advance, and it is linked to the electronic health file of the student at the health center.

Samya Al Abdullah praised the continuous cooperation with all concerned authorities such as the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Hamad General Hospital and Sidra Medicine to implement projects that target students health and ensure the transition to the concept of preventive health and health promotion for them in line with the objectives of the National Health Strategy.

She explained that with the completion of the inclusion of all schools in the country in the student's electronic health file project, there are aspirations to work on adding all treatment plans for students with chronic diseases and adding special tools to administer health surveys for school students, including tools for measuring the level of physical activity, proper nutrition for students, and tools for assessing the psychological and behavioral health of the student, in cooperation and partnership with all concerned parties.

The electronic student health file project creates a window of communication between school health nurses and the treating doctor in health centers or government hospitals, which strengthens the role of school nursing as an essential member of the integrated health care team to ensure the comprehensiveness of the care provided to students. It also allows school health staff to see the treatment plans set for students by the doctor and follow his recommendations to provide the required care and help transfer the student to the concerned health authorities if necessary.

For her part, Consultant of Community Medicine and Director of School Health Program and Services Dr. Leila Dahnim said that this achievement was the result of hard work for five continuous years on this project, as its implementation began in early 2016 in several stages.

(QNA)