1. All students receive a physical examination, weight and height measurements, personal hygiene check, and basic dental check. Sick students receive the medicine they need. Records will be kept on all students and their families.

2. Basic information on preventative healthcare and personal hygiene will be transmitted to school staff and parents so they have the basic knowledge and skills to look after their student's/children's health after examinations are completed.

3. Treatment establishes a starting point from which to assess the effectiveness of future preventative programs. The health loan fund pilot determines the villagers' willingness to pay into their community bank in order to build a village "health insurance" program.

4. The pilot villages help promote the village health loan program in other areas in order to build interest and provide the grounds for program expansion.

Comprehensive health survey initiative
Local government support for health services in schools has not been enough to meet all the needs of schools in Southern Thailand. There are still many schools which do not even have basic household medicines or a qualified health administrator. It is vital that students are given general health examinations because access to basic health services is so unreliable. The examinations identify basic health issues that can be easily solved but often go unnoticed. Further, gathering health data from school children reinforces the community's relationship to heath issues and services.

A recent exploratory health survey, comprising a physical exam, weight and height measurements, personal hygiene check, delousing, and basic dental checks, conducted on 1472 students in 8 schools within the project villages of Krabi found that 10% had ringworm, 35% were found to be underweight, 52% had lice and 72% had dental caries. These data suggest a low quality of overall hygiene among children that is indicative of poor hygiene habits among adults. An additional 42 primary schools averaging 196 students each require the same basic health exam in order to identify major concerns and to increase community awareness of health problems, basic hygiene and treatment options.

Dental treatment & health loan pilot project
The above average incidence of dental caries necessitates an intervention. Although treatment is important to villagers, it must be incorporated into an economically sustainable model of self-sufficiency. A pilot dental treatment program for 300 students in 3 Krabi schools that have been identified as having dental caries will test the willingness of villagers to pay into the village loan fund for health services they may need in the future. These loan funds, also called village banks, are locally administered microcredit institutions that allow villagers to take out loans at reasonable interest rates and to use labor as collateral and payment. The village bank has been a critical piece in helping villagers start their own businesses and to increase the collective wealth of the community.

Dentists and assistants from the local region will provide their services free of charge so that patients needing treatment can be encouraged to pay according to their ability. Local dentists may be supplemented by volunteers from Bangkok. Patients will pay for treatment according to their ability and the money will be put towards a village health fund, making them eligible to take out loans for health services, medications and transportation to government hospitals. As the concept develops, villagers will be able to contribute to the health fund and become eligible for this village "health insurance" by purchasing dental prophylaxis, contraceptives, vitamins, and, perhaps, motorcycle helmets. In addition, healthy behaviors can be encouraged by offering lower interest rates to individuals who are immunized, do not smoke, or make check-up visits to physicians and dentists.