PCD supports low-income countries to meet their school health needs using the findings of evidence-based research. PCD is a knowledge-based institution which creates and shares information. Core health interventions that PCD supports are school feeding & nutrition, deworming, water and sanitation, disability screening, and health education.[4]
It conducts operational research showing how interventions can be implemented and evaluated at the country level, for example enabling mass treatment of children for common infections such as hookworm and bilharzia.[5] PCD also facilitates the sharing of knowledge between academia, governments and agencies at both national and international level, through web sites, mailing lists, and a global network of partners. In recent years, a major focus of this work has been assisting educators and health professionals to work together to help schools respond to the threat that HIV/AIDS poses to education, as well as supporting governments to better target orphans and vulnerable children in their child health programming.[6][7]
A major function of PCD is capacity building, by means of courses and workshops for governmental and non-governmental staff in developing countries. These include annual training courses in school-based health, nutrition in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia in partnership with local academic organisations such as Mahidol University, the University of Ghana, and the Kenya Medical Research Institute.[8][9]
PCD are a core member of FRESH (Focusing Resources on Effective School Health), an inter-agency initiative that the group jointly developed with WHO, UNICEF, UNESCO, and the World Bank. This initiative is a key guiding strategy for PCD's development work.[10]
References
^Nokes C (1996), Journal of Biosocial Science [1] A healthy body and a healthy mind? : The relationship between ill-health and cognitive function in school-age children. Accessed 28 March 2012.
^Jamison, D. T., J. G. Breman, A. R. Measham, G. Alleyne, M. Claeson, D. B. Evans, P. Jha, A. Mills, and P. Musgrove. Disease Control Priorities II. Oxford University Press. p. Chapter 58. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Jamison, D. T., J. G. Breman, A. R. Measham, G. Alleyne, M. Claeson, D. B. Evans, P. Jha, A. Mills, and P. Musgrove, ed. 2006. Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. [2]
