The Department of Education's School Health Division highlighted the successful rollout of the WASH in Schools program in the Philippines to ensure that learners get access to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities regardless of location, gender, and ability during the recently concluded World Water Week in Stockholm.
Dr. Maria Corazon Dumlao, the agency's chief of the School Health Division, in her presentation, said the WinS program includes different components that are critical to providing learners with a conducive environment to learn and minimize health-related issues that can hinder their attendance and school participation.
Dr. Dumlao also presented the agency's Covid-19 infection prevention and control campaign that aimed to promote health and hygiene habit formation among teachers and learners to prevent the spread of the virus.
DepEd was commended for its national strategy to successfully implement the WASH in Schools program in the country. The latest report of the Joint Monitoring Program shows that the Philippines is on track in many of its indicators to reach the SDG targets. Despite achieving these significant milestones, DepEd, through BLSS-SHD, is determined to work continuously to improve the WASH situation in the country.
The WASH in Schools Program is one of the flagship programs under the Oplan Kalusugan sa DepEd, which is the convergence of DepEd's school health and nutrition programs. Other programs under the OK sa DepEd are the School-Based Feeding Program, the National Drug Education Program, Adolescent Reproductive Health, School Mental Health, and Medical, Dental and Nursing Services.
