Improving children’s health and education by working together on school health and nutrition (SHN) programming in Nepal

Although the school-age children’s mortality rate is low, they face diseases that keep them from succeeding in school; therefore, the objective of a School Health and Nutrition (SHN) program is to improve the health and nutrition status of school children which leads to improved school performance. The program activities include iron supplementation and deworming; health and nutrition education; capacity building of partners, teachers, and students; and provision of safe drinking water and toilets. In 2009 Save the Children (SC) is implementing the SHN program in four districts of Nepal reaching 1,127 primary schools and 354,170 students in the districts, representing almost 90% of enrolled children in these districts. Implementation is in partnership with local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and in close coordination with the Department of Education (DOE) and Child Health Division (CHD), Department of Health Services (DHS). In the past, many successful school based health, hygiene and nutrition programs were implemented in Nepal from time to time, but these initiatives were temporary projects. The National SHN Strategy 2006 successfully brought the two key ministries together along with other stakeholders to create a sustainable program. The National SHN Strategy 2006 emphasized implementing comprehensive SHN package by building the capacity of teachers, health workers, School Management Committees (SMC) including students at all levels. Currently, the SHN program is progressing towards successful nation-wide expansion through the government system