Health ATM available to students, parents and local community

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Central School in Kattappana, India, has installed the Health ATM, which is a self-service kiosk that offers health check-ups and is available to students, parents and the local community.

Equipped with advanced medical technology, the Health ATM allows users to monitor vital health parameters such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels, body mass index, oxygen saturation, temperature and more — all within minutes.

According to Father Varghese Edathichira, the school’s principal, this preventive health care initiative is part of a holistic approach to ensuring the well-being of students, teachers, parents and the wider community. He explained, “By addressing both physical and mental health, we aim to create a healthy and supportive learning environment.”

Salesian missionaries offer more than 150 medical clinics and hospitals in mostly rural areas around the globe that serve a wide range of medical care needs of youth and their families. Father Michael Conway, director of Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, said, “Salesians ensure that poor youth and their families have access to critical health services. Through hospitals, dispensaries, and mobile medical clinics, and technology like what’s being used in India, Salesians are addressing the medical needs of those in often remote areas that have little access to care.”

Salesians provide a range of education and social development programs for poor and at-risk youth and their families in India. They work to mitigate the devastating effects of poverty for these families.

India’s youth face a lack of educational opportunities due to issues of caste, class and gender. Almost 44% of the workforce is illiterate and less than 10% of the working-age population has completed a secondary education. In addition, many secondary school graduates do not have the knowledge and skills to compete in today’s changing job market.

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Sources:

ANS Photo (usage permissions and guidelines must be requested from ANS)

ANS – India – The “Health ATM” at Don Bosco Central School in Kattapana

Salesian Missions – India

World Bank – India