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First Class Hospital in collaboration with the Assin South Education Directorate has organised a free health talk for over 30, 000 students out of which 3,000 were screened to ascertain their health conditions.

The screening is expected to be conducted throughout the year.

The beneficiaries were made up of all students in the primary, junior and senior high schools in the Assin South District of the Central Region.

The primary and Junior high students were screened for malaria and students in the SHS were also screened for sexually transmitted diseases.

Dr Francis Appiah, a specialist in obstetrician and gynaecologist said the exercise formed part of their social corporate responsibility to mark 11 years that the hospital has been in existence.

In addition, he said the screening was to provide quality education, and emotional support for children who through no fault of theirs found themselves in difficult situations.

Dr Appiah advised students saying, malaria is a disease caused by a parasite and spread to humans through bites of infected mosquitoes.

To reduce malaria, he noted that gutters should be desilted, grown-up weeds cleared and sleep in well-treated mosquito nets.

He cautioned students in the JHS and SHS against sexually infected diseases, affecting most of them and having consequential disorders in the future.

He told students to avoid pre-marital sex and abstain from it completely.

He said medications were dispensed at no cost to students after consultations, such as antimalarials, multivitamins, analgesics and cough mixtures.

Dr Appiah appealed to non-governmental organisations, philanthropists, civil society organisations to come to their aid to assist in the health needs of the people.

On his part, Mr Ransford Appiah District Director of Education commended the medical team and lauded the health screening exercise saying the medical team placed much emphasis on the health needs of the students.

In an interview, Master Kofi Okyere, a student was grateful to the medical team and wished that the health screening was sustained to help others.