Health education made fun in children's training programs

A series of training programs for children to learn about health and disease prevention through specially-designed courses such as self-made soaps and herbal bags has begun.

The program is the first of its kind jointly launched by the government, hospitals, schools, businesses, and media to promote cross-border health education for children and minors.

"We will establish children's health education stations in multiple districts and schools to offer education for minors and their families on mental and physical health, give guidance on proper and scientific sports and healthy life style," said Dr Chen Haiyan from Zhongshan Hospital, one of the leading organizers of the program.

"Our team has been involved in health education for 10 years and dedicated in developing cartoons, comic books, videos and social media and various online and offline courses to promote health among children and also cultivate and train more young medial professionals to be involved in health education, which is not as easy as people have thought," Chen said.

The Shanghai Health Commission is encouraging medics to take part in health education and is the first city in the nation to include medical professionals' performances and achievements on health education into their evaluation system and set up various competitions and awards for them.

Apart from young medical professionals, top medical experts are involving in scientific education. Dr Ge Junbo, a cardiologist in Zhongshan Hospital and an academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences set up a health education base in Yangpu District in order to team up with local government to explore more effective and useful educational methods to enhance public awareness on science and health.