Skin Diseases among School Children - Can Research Lead to Policy and Action?

Abstract

Schools provide excellent arenas for public health research and interventions. Though public health interventions are often undertaken in schools serious epidemiologic health research is not very common. Healthcare interventions in schools are largely based on available information, sometimes generated in other parts of the world, and are often general in nature.

In Kerala, one recent development is the revitalization of the School Health Programme under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and this initiative gives ample scope for translating these research findings to policy and action. The package of school health programme offered under NRHM could be elaborated with inclusion of services aimed at detection and management of skin diseases in school children which would go a long way in reducing the morbidity associated with these conditions.