Learners from schools across Gauteng are expected to benefit from the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) as up to 28 professional nurses and 28 data capturers criss-cross the province to get learners screened for various diseases.
Initially hired to assist during the vaccination campaign of the cervical cancer-causing Human Papillomavirus (HPV), where Grade 5 girls aged from 9 years and above are given the shot of the vaccine that aims to prevent cervical cancer in the future, the team of nurses and data capturers will also be a part of the Primary Health Care Package (PHCP).
Under the PHCP, learners in Grade R, 1, 4, 8 and 10, as well as those who have been referred by teachers or parents, will be screened for things like eye health, hearing, oral assessments, nutritional assessments, deworming and other available health services.
The Head of Communications at the Gauteng Department of Health, Motaletale Modiba, says
the ISHP has been implemented for a very long time in Gauteng schools.
According to Modiba, while the ISHP is a priority for the department, the first round of the HPV campaign which has been running from 5 February and will end on 20 March, was in full swing and has been a success over the years, with the number of learners who have been vaccinated rising with every roll-out.
The HPV information centre reports that an estimated 22.2 million women aged 15 and above are at risk of being diagnosed with cervical cancer. According to the report, over 107 000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year and 5870 die from it.
Cervical cancer is also the second most prevalent cancer after breast cancer amongst women in the country.
In 2014, over 46 000 (64.5 percent) out of the over 71 000 Grade 4 girls from the age of 9 years and above were vaccinated. By the end of 2023, up to 84.6% (74 359) out of 87 910 girls in public primary and special schools had received the two-dose vaccine.
“The year 2024 marks ten years of the implementation of the HPV vaccination campaign in Gauteng Province as the campaign continued over the years, it is noted that there has been a good improvement in terms of learner coverage number from when it started until in 2023,” Modiba says.
The department could not provide the numbers for learners who had been vaccinated in the current roll-out and encouraged parents who had not given consent for their children to get the shot. No learner would get vaccinated without a signed consent form, however, learners who are aged 12 years and above can sign the consent forms if they understand what they are signing up for.
Modiba explained that some of the reasons why parents were not giving consent at schools are that their children had already received the vaccine from private practitioners while others did not trust the vaccine and believed it would affect their children’s fertility in the future.
“Those girls who were not yet 9-years-old or were absent during the campaign, will be given their catchup single doses when the second round of the campaign is rolled-out again in September and October. This will include learners who are in private and independent schools,” adds Modiba.