On Friday the ongoing Gujarat Assembly Budget Session 2026 made public very worrying health information from government schools of Ahmedabad district where 360 children were suffering from serious cardiac diseases found during medical examination.
The issue got raised during Question Hour at the House when the state government gave the details of its school health check-up programme that is being conducted. As per the information given by the state health minister, hundred thousands of students of government schools of the district have been medically examined in the last two years and hundreds of those were found to be seriously ill.
The health minister told the House that the school health check-up programme is mainly targeted at the rural and semi-urban areas of Ahmedabad district as these are the areas where the programme will help in detecting the hidden diseases at an early stage and by doing so it can also ensure the treatment at a correct time. Over the span of two years subsidiaries of government schools covering around five lakhs children across nine talukas have been screened under the initiative namely Bavla Daskroi, Detroj Dhandhuka Dholera Dholka Mandal, Sanand and Viramgam.
During these screenings, 360 children were diagnosed with weak or diseased hearts. Among them, 191 kids had either heart surgeries done or got specialised treatment, that too successfully, in the last one year. Daskroi taluka took the lead as the area with the maximum cases of children with severe heart problems; 78 kids with heart issues were discovered there.
Health screening turned up several other serious illnesses among students apart from heart problems. Cancer and kidney along with stomach-related diseases were also found in some children.
The FY 2025-26 data showed that approximately 5,285 kids were treated for sick anemia, eye problem, skin disease, dental problem, and ear, nose and throat (ENT) ailments in schools themselves or in nearby health centres. Anemia was the common disease among adolescent girls in particular. They were given iron tablets along with food counselling subsequently.
If a student was in need of a high level of medical treatment, then the government referred that student to a tertiary care center. Last year 30 295 children were sent/referred to bigger hospitals for specialised treatment. Officials say that all such children get free surgeries, medicines, and medical care under different government welfare schemes.
The health department said in the Assembly that mobile health teams still operate in rural areas to make sure students get timely diagnosis and treatment. Officials also mentioned that routine medical checks at the school level, including visits by specialist doctors, have contributed to the early detection of severe illnesses and lowered the risk of child deaths. Highly expensive treatments, especially for heart and kidney diseases, are being given free of charge to children belonging to economically weaker and middle-income families, a move that the government considered as a significant achievement of the school health programme.
