The Regional Director for Health stated in Angra do Heroísmo that the Operation Manual for the Promotion of Health in School Context is a document of "major importance to the standardisation of procedures in all regional school health teams."

Speaking at the public presentation of the manual, jointly implemented by the Regional Directorates for Health and Education, João Soares stressed that "this a fundamental tool in the decision-making process," adding that "it allows the equitable and efficient use resources."

The manual entered in force on Friday. It covers the following areas: individual and collective health, school inclusion of children with special education needs, the promotion of a safe environment, the awareness for the importance of health and the promotion of health literacy.

The Regional Director stressed that with implementation of the Youth Risk Behaviour Surveillance System, "it was possible to identify situations and establish priority interventions to address the needs detected in each school."

According to João Soares, this methodology is being "followed for the first time in the Azores."
Each school health team, which comprises members from health units and schools, will be responsible for developing an activity plan in the beginning of the school year and submit a report on the actions carried out by the end of the year.

All activities will be recorded digitally, which enables "a continuous assessment of the measure implemented and the possibility of further improvement whenever necessary," said the government official.

The Regional Directorate for Health has set an assessment of 83% in the indicators provided in the Regional Health Plan as the target for the area of school health.

The manual includes several screenings: visual, hearing, oral health, obesity and hypertension. There are also scheduled overall health exams for children aged five that will cover the following parameters: physical examination, height and weight assessment, psychomotor evaluation, vision, hearing, mouth, teeth, posture and language. These exams are also targeted at teenagers aged 12-13 years. In this case, the exam will cover the previous parameters and the pubertal stage.

Under the promotion of health, the Regional Directorate will promote several actions in the area of affective and sexual health as well as actions that will be developed in accordance with the results of the survey conducted under the risk behaviours surveillance system; the latter will cover students from 6th to 12th form.