Vice President Faisal Naseem has expressed the importance of ensuring healthy lifestyles and promoting healthy habits in children at a young age. He made the statement while speaking at the ceremony to inaugurate the Health Promoting Schools Conference.
The first Health Promoting Schools Conference in the Maldives would be held from August 25-27 at Thaajuddeen School. Minister of Education Dr. Aishath Ali, Minister of Health Ahmed Naseem, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative to the Maldives Dr. Nazneen Anwar also attended the ceremony.
Speaking at the function, Vice President Naseem said the conference comes at the most opportune time and would benefit students immensely. The vice president stressed the increasing number of non-communicable diseases in the Maldives over recent years and how it entails students. Highlighting the importance of ensuring healthy lifestyles and promoting healthy habits in children at a young age, he called on parents to ensure their children receive nutritious food and regular exercise.
The conference is organised by the Ministry of Education and the WHO, in association with Thaajuddeen School. It seeks to promote the implementation of the Health Promoting Schools Initiative of the education ministry and acts as a platform to share the knowledge and experiences of participating schools in ensuring health-promoting environments in all schools. The theme of the conference is sustain (good practices), embrace (innovations), and accelerate (progress).
A total of 136 participants from 17 schools in the Greater Malé Region attend the conference, and representatives from 79 schools from the atolls join as online observers. It would see the participation of teachers and management of schools in addition to students and parents.