The Minister of Education witnesses the activities of the initiative "Partnership for Healthy Cities"
Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, and Major General Khaled Abdel-Al, Governor of Cairo, witnessed the activities of the “Partnership for Healthy Cities” initiative. Which was organized by the Ministry in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo Governorate, the World Health Organization, the Egyptian Food Bank, and in partnership with Bloomberg and Vital Strategy.
This came in the presence of Dr. Mohamed Shawky, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and Population, Dr. Nima Saeed, representative of the World Health Organization in Egypt, and Dr. Randa Abu Al-Naga, head of noncommunicable diseases programs at the World Health Organization office in Egypt, Dr. Mohsen Sarhan, head of the Egyptian Food Bank, Ayman Moussa, director of the Cairo Education Directorate, and Amal El Hawary, director of the Heliopolis Educational Administration.
The minister visited, accompanied by the Minister of Health and Population and the Cairo Governor The head of the Egyptian Food Bank and the representative of the World Health Organization. The students carried out healthy recreational activities, including coloring booklets for vegetables and fruits, a puzzle, and a healthy puppet theatre. They also visited the school canteen, in which the Egyptian Food Bank provides healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits instead of harmful foods.
Commenting on the initiative, Dr. Reda Hegazy, Minister of Education and Technical Education, stressed the importance of the “Partnership for Healthy Cities” initiative, which aims to protect citizens’ health from non-communicable diseases and injuries within the global network of supported healthy cities. From Bloomberg Charitable Foundation.
The minister indicated that this initiative comes within the presidential directive to improve school nutrition for children and combat stunting and anemia, adding that this initiative has achieved serious steps in improving the environment. Nutrition in the targeted partner schools, and the necessary changes to school cafeterias were completed to provide healthy alternatives to our students in the primary stage in (15) schools in Cairo Governorate. Educational materials were designed, printed, and distributed to the school community, based on a study of the knowledge, attitudes, and nutritional behaviors of students and school staff. Coordination was also made with the Egyptian Food Bank to provide fresh food in school canteens, while applying World Health Organization standards for food safety.
Dr. Al-Wazir expressed his appreciation to the World Health Organization for its sincere desire In contributing to the development of the educational system by improving the health of school children in Egypt, this stems from its sense of responsibility.
The Minister stressed that education is the basic basis for the progress of nations, so it cannot be neglected. A nation rises without paying attention to educating its people and preparing cadres that contribute to the progress of society in all fields. This can only be achieved by raising health awareness and improving public health for everyone, starting with school children, pointing out that early childhood is a treasure trove of human wealth that we must preserve and give it all attention. And care. Every day we discover something new in this early stage of life. It is the most important stage of all, not only in terms of the dangers that can happen to this group of our children, but it is a stage that has been scientifically proven to be the six golden years in a person’s life, the years of growth of the types of intelligence that can To be a real wealth for this country.
The minister continued, saying: “Schools are a major gateway to promoting healthy nutritional behaviors and reducing the risks of obesity, malnutrition, and chronic diseases. By providing school feeding programs for students, these programs are viewed as a long-term investment in human capital and a means of promoting human rights.
The Minister appreciated the active participation of all local partners. And international organizations, as well as civil society organizations and their important role in this, look forward to more support from Bloomberg Charitable Foundation, and expanding the initiative in a larger number of schools, which will necessarily lead to improving the public health of our students.
It is worth noting that the initiative consists of a global network supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and includes 70 cities, including Cairo, and aims to save lives by preventing non-communicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity by confronting and combating the risk factors that lead to them. By selecting and implementing a set of activities that aim to apply international nutritional standards to foods served and sold in public institutions, especially in primary government schools, by providing healthy alternatives to students in the school cafeteria at reasonable prices while increasing its efficiency and providing the necessary tools to prepare those alternatives.
The initiative targets 16 schools in Cairo, and the program includes raising the efficiency of the school cafeteria’s infrastructure to suit the preparation and serving of healthy meals in it, and posting informational signs for beneficial foods and healthy alternatives to harmful foods on the walls and stairs so that they are within students’ sight at all times. Teaching students the benefits of healthy foods through a series of games and competitions to change their eating behavior for the better.
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