To check the health of students of the Government schools of state the Medical Health Department has constituted 148 School Health Teams (SHT). These teams are being constituted under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).
Every SHT has two Medical Officers (1 male and 1 female), one Pharmacist and one staff nurse. The department has deputed one Community Mobiliser at the district level to help these teams. To monitor the activities of these teams the department has deployed two Regional Coordinators one each for Garhwal and Kumaun divisions. The Director General Medical Heath ,Uttarakhand, Dr G S Joshi said that the SHT would do a complete health check up the school children and if any school child is found to be suffering from any ailment which requires specialized treatment he/ she is referred to the nearest CHC or district hospital depending upon the case for treatment. These teams are required to medically examine every child of Government school once a year and the Aganwadi children twice a year. The SHT submits the monthly work done to the concerned district Chief Medical Officer and District Education Officer for necessary action and feedback.
The department has constituted 15 SHT each for Almora, Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar, Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal and Nainital districts while Dehradun has 13, Pithoragarh 10, Chamoli 9 and Uttarkashi 8 such teams. Bageshwar, Rudraprayag and Champawat districts have 6 teams each. These teams are mandated only for the medical check up of the children and referring them to higher medical centres if required and are not entitled to give any medication to the children.