 Early Times Report
Jammu, Oct 4: With an aim to raise awareness on the risks and prevention of COVID-19 among children living in Child Care Institutions, Dr. Sushil Sharma along with his team of volunteers today held an interaction with children cum caregivers of SOS Children Village, Gole Gujral.
He stressed that the current pandemic has demonstrated the vulnerability of children which is accentuated in the context of their positioning in such Child Care Settings. Social services are being disrupted by the pandemic, leading to reduced access to essential child health interventions. Amidst these challenges, sustaining essential health services such as routine checkups is crucial to ensure children are protected against many life-threatening diseases, he informed. He further expressed that besides raising awareness during COVID-19 we must also ensure that the flurry of rumours and misconceptions about COVID do not deter access to health services especially to women and children. Thus, raising awareness and removing fears should be the priority of people working with children, he urged.
To make children understandable about various hygienic measures to be adopted during COVID-19, he has taken help of short video clippings and documentaries during the interaction. Similarly, it has been mentioned that the symptoms for COVID-19 are similar in children and adults and may look like common cold, strep throat and allergies. The most common symptoms among children are, however, fever and cough but they can have shortness in breath, sore throat, diarrhea, loss of taste and smell, stomach ache, tiredness and body pains. |
