Preventive Health Education is yet another initiative of the Sri Sathya Sai Sarla Memorial Hospital under its Community Medicine Department, carried out through the Divine Mother and Child Health Program (DMCHP).

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In the year 2013, Divine Child Health Program was launched, as a comprehensive early detection and systemic health screening programme for rural school-going children. Since then, child health screening is being conducted based on Government of India’s Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), which focusses on the detection of 4Ds i.e, Defects at birth, Deficiencies, Disease, and Developmental delays and disabilities. This programme expanded into the Divine Mother and Child Health Program in September 2017, by focussing on preventive care for pregnant women alongside children. So far, preventive health education and healthcare support has been gifted to over 17,000 expecting mothers at 50 PHCs and over 85,000 children at 2,200 Schools. In the State of Karnataka, the programme has embraced seven districts, and various kinds of preventive health education programmes are conducted regularly at the rural areas.

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• Students of Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Gurukulam Group of Institutions
  Annual medical check-ups are conducted for students studying at the Sri Sathya Sai Loka Seva Gurukulam Group of Institutions to promote health literacy and create awareness on personal health and hygiene. In collaboration with the Primary Health Centre at Muddenahalli, students are vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, and tetanus.

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• Expecting and Lactating Mothers
  Through the Primary Health Centres run by the Government, expecting mothers and lactating mothers are advised on various aspects like nutrition, hygiene, self-care during pregnancy, preparedness for delivery, benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, care of infants, complementary feeding, family welfare, and other healthy child rearing practices.

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• Children in Primary Schools (age 6 to 10 years)
  Children in this age group are taught about the importance of bathing daily, brushing teeth, skin care, hair care, regular hand washing, and other basic health concepts.

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• Children in Higher Primary and High schools (age 11 to 16 years)
  Children in this age group are educated on sexual health, menstrual hygiene, growth and development during puberty, importance of nutrition and general hygiene. Special meditation sessions for improving memory and concentration, and personality development sessions are also conducted with the help of subject experts.

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• College Students (age 16 to 22 years)
  Sessions on voluntary blood donation, anaemia prevention, first aid, gender equality, concepts about marriage and pregnancy planning, sexual health, and other general health concepts are taught to college students.

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• Medical and Paramedical Staff
  Doctors, Nurses, Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), Anganwadi workers and ASHA staff in healthcare system are also trained in various aspects of health, according to their needs.

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Statistics as of August 2023