Incidentally, the leadership in health project, an 18-month effort directed at promoting health education information in schools, is being sponsored by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation which is chaired by Mrs. Gandhi. The Foundation will contribute Rs. 4.5 lakh to HRIDAY for its project in schools. With the beginning of “leadership in health”, HRIDAY too was formally launched on Saturday. Doctors and students from AIIMS will play a major part in the project.

The entire area in the vicinity of Jawaharlal Nehru Auditorium in AIIMS was virtually taken over by securitymen for the duration of Mrs Gandhi’s visit. The area was out of bounds for all except those who carried accredited invitation cards for the function.

After launching the project during which she distributed posters to student representatives from 15 schools, Mrs Gandhi attended the opening session of the workshop in which students, split in small groups, took part. The students were asked specific questions on how they would deal with various health-related problems. Their responses will constitute the basis for the format on which the project will work.

Throughout the function, however, Mrs. Gandhi did not speak. Though she spent about 15 minutes with each group of students at the opening session of “leadership in health” she hardly spoke.
The main speakers at the opening session were Dr S K Kacker, Mr W. Habibullah, secretary of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Dr. P. N. Tandon of AIIMS who is also with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Dr. K.S. Reddy, who is the programme officer of HRIDAY.

While giving details of the project, Dr. Reddy noted that its main purpose was to foster group activities in a manner that these could promote health care. The project would have an additional component in that young professionals, those who were studying for a medical degree, became not merely “ care provides” but also “health educators’.

The information content of the workshops will relate to ways to avoid tobacco-related diseases, addictive drugs, promotion of physical exercise and stress relaxation, diet and hygiene.