Nearly 85.18 lakh children across 36 districts of Maharashtra have been screened for the four 'Ds' – diseases, deficiencies, defects and developmental disorders – under the state's 'Jagruk Paalak, Sudrud Baalak' programme until February 23. According to health officials, anaemia, dental problems and obesity were seen in most of the kids during screening.
“Of the total children screened in the state, 6, 84,145 were found to be sick during the process, of which around 5, 00,364 were treated immediately. However, 2, 23,729 children have been referred for higher-level treatment,” said an official.
According to a senior official if any children need immediate attention they are sent to a nearby hospital or tertiary care centre for treatment. “Within two months, we have screened at least 85 lakh children, which means almost 28-30% of the eligible population has been covered. We are closely monitoring ailments such as anaemia, malnutrition, obesity and dental issues as some of the children have been detected with these,” he said.
Moreover, nearly 50,686 schools across Maharashtra have been screened with by nine lakh teams, with the help of 37,448 ASHA and Anganwadi workers.
BMCs executive health officer, Dr Mangala Gomare said, there are 25 lakh children and it will take some time to screen them. “We are conducting daily screening at schools and colleges. It is too early to comment on what we have found during the screening as many eligible kids are yet to be screened, and numbers are big,” she said.
Screened so far...
Pune 5.93L
Ahmednagar 5.18L
Solapur 4.62L
Nashik 3.96L
Beed 3.14L
Satara 3.08L
Mumbai 2.79L
