Evaluation of preventive health services for hospitalised children under a child health programme.

In the hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, the Child Health Programme (CHP) has been offering preventive health care services to about 60,000 patients per year. The patient populations are mostly children who stay with their mothers or other relatives. In this programme, health education, immunisation and nutrition rehabilitation services are offered. Health education is offered as group discussion and face-to-face interaction between the educator and the mother. Immunisation is offered daily from 0700h to 1900h to all children and women attending the hospital. Nutrition rehabilitation services, both inpatient and outpatient, are offered to severely undernourished children. These preventive services are implemented by health workers and health assistants. All attendants and adult patients participate in health education sessions. More than 80% of unimmunized children and 50% of unimmunized women receive immunisation. The experience of the CHP shows that it is possible to offer different preventive health care services to all attendants and patients attending a busy hospital.