Tirupati: 8.82 lakh children to be given deworming tablets

Tirupati: As part of the mass deworming measure, the government will be taking up "National Deworming Day" (NDD) on August 18 and will distribute tablets to children up to August 20 in the state. Under the programme, the health workers will visit every house and give Albendazole tablets to children between 1-19 years of age.

The objective of the programme is to make every child worm-free. It is necessitated as more than 83.6 crore children are at risk of parasitic worm infections across the world while 24.1 crore children of 1-14 years of age in India are prone to the risk of intestinal worms also known as Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH). NDD aims to deworm the children as the STH infections may lead to anaemia and malnutrition. Under the programme, all the students of targeted age group of 1-19 years will be administered Albendazole dose which will improve their immune system. As part of this, children between 12 years will be given half tablet (200 mg) whereas those from 2-19 years of age have to take full tablet (400 mg). The tablet is chewable which they can easy chew and improve their overall health.

In Chittoor district, there are 8.82 lakh children in the targeted age group for whom the tablets will be given. Normally, they will be given in the schools and colleges twice in each year as AP also falls in the category of having 20 per cent or more prevalence of STH infection. However, since the educational institutions are being closed due to Covid-19 pandemic, this time the health workers will visit the houses to find the children in the said age group to give tablets.

Speaking to The Hans India, the district coordinator of the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) Dr A Sudarsan has said that ASHA, Anganwadi volunteers and ANMs will take the programme forward by visiting all houses by following Covid-19 protocols for four days to cover all the houses. The tablet kills worms like roundworm, whipworm and hookworms and keep the children healthy, he said.