SOME 100 children recently benefited from free medical examinations at Camp Summer Plus, which was held by the Ministry of Education for struggling grade three students.

The three-week camp, which was sponsored by USAID through the Issa Trust Foundation was held at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education

President and (CASE) chief executive officer of the ISSA Trust Foundation Diane Pollard said a team comprising of 32 individuals from the United States were on hand to assist with the medical checks, which included sight and hearing screenings, as well as tests for haemoglobin and lead levels, among others.

“It was a complete physical examination, and if they need medication the pharmacy supplies it. They also undergo an eye examination, and about 25 per cent are fitted with glasses. They are screened for hearing as well just to see if they have any adverse hearing problems,” said Dr Jeff Segar, adding that each child also received fluorine treatment.

Electronic medical records, he said, are kept of all the children and this information is made available to the Ministry of Health.

Dr Segar said while they have not seen children with high elevated levels of lead, a lot of them have very low haemoglobin which he believes is probably related to iron deficiency, although they were not able to specifically test the blood to determine if that is the cause.

Meanwhile, Pollard explained that this information is shared with USAID which sponsors the camp, and this is in turn shared with the ministries of health and education.

” Since we have been coming for the last 10 years, we have seen improvements in the data, and since they passed the smoking laws, we have been able to share with the Ministry of Health that 30 per cent less children that we see are affected with asthma, so there is a reduction,” she said.

Principal in charge of the camp, Tashana Houdhan, said the camp, which is geared towards helping with literacy, is for grade three students with learning challenges.

“They were assessed and we are here to help to get them ready and prepared for grade four as the recommendation came in from the teachers in the schools,” she said.

According to Houdhan, it is important for these children to be medically tested so that they can be treated.

The children were selected from schools in and around Port Antonio and shuttled to the camp every day.

Minister of Education Ronald Thwaites, while expressing satisfaction with the camp, said greater collaboration is needed between the ministries of health and education as it regards the medical diagnosis of the children, as this can help in the learning process.

“I would like to congratulate the Issa Foundation for their investment in our education, which is one of the increasing number of philanthropic and private sector organisations that are investing in education because of their strong moral sentiments,” he said.

The particular investment for health testing, he said, is of significance because many children incubate health challenges which are not easily identified.

” I, myself, was hopeless in school until someone found out I needed a pair of glasses. I know of children who need a basic meal a day, which they don’t have,” he said, explaining that the medical test will help.

The minister noted that when a group can bring in these experts to do this medical they must be commended.

” We need better coordination between the ministry of health and education to co-ordinate the efforts to help these students with medical challenges to improve the system and for their development as we can’t employ a nurse in every school,” he said.

The medical group has been coming to Jamaica for the last 15 years, and this time they staged two other such camps across the island.