Using teachers as change agents in the control of tropical diseases-an extra-curricular approach.

For years the teaching of health education has always been a problem in the Nigerian schools either due to the absence of the subject on the curriculum or inadequate professional preparation of teachers to handle it. This study introduces an extracurricular approach using four endemic diseases as an example in the teaching of health education in five secondary schools. The findings revealed that: 1) teachers can be successfully used as informal agents in the school environment if exposed to appropriate health education techniques, and 2) endemic diseases can be controlled through the provision of learning experiences in the school environment where feasible.