A workshop that aims to identify opportunities to improve child and adolescent health will be held in Nadi next week.

Minister of Health and Medical Services, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete will officially open the ‘Workshop on Strengthening Health Promoting Schools: Experiences in the Pacific Islands’ on September 17 at the Tanoa International Hotel.

World Health Organisation Division of Pacific Technical Support Office Director Dr. Corinne Capuano says the Health Promoting Schools strategy was well aligned with Healthy Islands Vision ‘where children were nurtured in body and mind and environments invited learning and leisure’.

The three-day workshop will bring together participants from both the Ministries of Health and Education from 21 Pacific Island Countries and areas (PICs), along with key partner agencies.

The objectives of the Workshop are to understand the Health Promoting School Framework, and its requirements, to share best practices and challenges in the Pacific Island Countries for Health Promoting Schools, including the Fiji model, and components of assessment and monitoring.

And also to develop priority action plans for the establishment and/or strengthening of Health Promoting Schools in the different PICs, with collaboration between Ministries of Health and Education.

Over 200 schools in Fiji are now implementing HPS activities.