Upcoming de-worming campaign to target over 0.5m children

Islamabad: In order to ensure better health of children, especially those enrolled in schools, a mass de-worming campaign has been planned for Islamabad on January 23.

The drive for which the planning, health services and professional education have collaborated will target 547,000 children aged between five and 14 years no matter whether they study in government or private schools and seminaries, or are not enrolled in educational institutions.

According to officials, the children will be given mebendazole, a medication for debilitating soil-transmitted helminth infections, free of charge. They told 'The News' that the intestinal parasitic worms could cause anaemia, malnutrition, impaired mental and physical development, besides threatening the children’s education and productivity.

A steering committee consisting of the representatives of the planning and development, national health services, professional education and training, religious affairs, and capital administration and development division ministries, and Federal Directorate of Education will handle the programme’s matters on coordination, implementation and monitoring, while three private organisations, including Interactive Research and Development, Indus Health Network and Evidence Action, will also be part of the exercise.

While the de-worming programme will supply schools and communities with public awareness material, the technical assistance partners will help the ICT administration tailor locally-appropriate campaigns for de-worming awareness.

The officials said the programme had been designed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and address malnutrition and anaemia among children.

They said chronic worm infections resulted from poor sanitation and hygiene conditions, tended to have the highest prevalence in children of school-going age, and had both widespread and debilitating consequences.