PHCC launched a three-weeks campaign, with the aim of preventing the spread of infection among students, staff, and parents. With the beginning of the new academic year, and with the aim to intensify efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, PHCC School Health department launches a Safe Return to School campaign under the slogan ‘Defying COVID-19 With a Safe Return’, targeting all public schools in the State of Qatar.

Coinciding with the first day of the new academic year 2021-2022, this three-weeks campaign will be launched this Sunday, August 29, 2021, targeting all students of all ages: kindergarten, primary, preparatory, and secondary schools, as well as all public-school staff and parents.

Return to School campaign comes as an introduction to all School Health campaigns, where the most important precautionary measures required for the prevention of COVID-19 and the spread of infection among students and school staff will be highlighted.

As every year, the campaign aims to raise awareness of the most common communicable diseases among students and ways to limit and prevent their spread, including chickenpox, influenza, COVID-19, lice, hand, foot, and mouth infections, and scabies.

Many events, activities and awareness lectures have been prepared for students to be presented by school health nurses and a group of health educators from PHCC health centers to raise health awareness among students of the most common diseases, and how to follow the most important methods of infection prevention and control in their surrounding environment, whether at home, school, or public places.

Parents will be engaged by receiving awareness messages periodically, and a set of health educational videos has been created to be presented on screens in all schools, as well as a set of brochures, awareness messages, coloring books, and guiding posters.

There will be extensive media coverage, including press releases, in addition to PHCC's social media live streaming and a set of extensive radio and TV interviews with the school health team, with the aim of reaching out to the largest possible number of students and parents in the country.

To create a healthy and safe school environment to welcome our students while the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, the school health protocol has been updated for precautionary measures for health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic in public schools in the State of Qatar, which includes all precautionary and preventive measures, and comprehensive checklists that help the assigned school team to closely monitor the school environment on a daily basis.

The updated protocol includes creating a healthy and safe school environment suitable for students and all school staff, through the precautionary measures used, with an emphasis on the need to adhere to the general guidelines applied in Qatar, and the importance of maintaining a safe distance in classrooms and in all school facilities and school buses, washing and sanitizing hands constantly, following coughing and sneezing etiquette, and requiring all administrative and teaching staff to adhere to the guidelines applied in the country to prevent infections and diseases.

PHCC School Health department emphasizes the importance of the role of parents in preparing their children to return to school through encouraging them to sleep early and taking care of their healthy nutrition, in addition to educating their children about the importance of adhering to precautionary measures, and visiting the health center in case they have any symptoms of infection, as it is everyone’s responsibility to follow these measures to ensure the safe return of our students to school.