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Programme to train students on health, nutrition launched

The Exemplary Educator Programme, devised to train secondary and university students to become health educators and spread awareness of health issues in their community, was inaugurated last week by the Primary Health Care (PHC) Department at the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms). The programme is the first of its kind to be offered to students in areas of nutrition and health

DUBAI (Khaleej Times / July 11, 2003) -- The Exempliary Educator Programme, devised to train secondary and university students to become health educators and spread awareness of health issues in their community, was inaugurated last week by the Primary Health Care (PHC) Department at the Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms).

The programme is the first of its kind to be offered to students in areas of nutrition and health and to date 30 female students from various schools in the Dubai Educational Zone are taking part in the programme.

Mona Sultan Al Suwaidi, Assistant Director of the PHC Department, said the programme aims to bring out the latent skills and abilities of the girls and hone their skills to help them achieve a distinguished position in their community, so they may have the ability to make a positive impact on others and raise their community's health awareness level.

Mona Sultan Al Suwaidi said the aim was to raise the students' awareness of healthy lifestyle and of the techniques and methods of health education and nutrition and provide the students with basic health principles that would enable them to play an effective preventive role in the community, among their friends and family, by encouraging healthy behaviours.

She said the programme would not be limited to students but would, in the future, be expanded to include other members of the society - labourers, employees, house wives and teenagers. The aim of the programme is to make sure there are health educators among every community group to spread awareness of health issues.

The trainees will also get practical experience from working alongside health educators at the clinics and PHC centres in Dubai. They will also take part in various workshops and lectures and work to prepare printed health education materials and will visit the Dohms library and Al Shuwab rest home as part of their training.