Deworming Day suspended due to supply of substandard drugs in Khammam

Khammam: The administering of Albendazole tablets to students under the age of 19 under National Deworming Day (NDD) campaign scheduled on Thursday was cancelled in erstwhile Khammam.

It was said that two batches of tablets supplied to erstwhile Khammam district under NDD were not of standard quality. Hence, the Joint Director (Child Health and Immunisation) has advised the District Education Officers and Mandal Education Officers, District Medical and Health Officers and authorities at educational institutions in Khammam and Kothagudem districts to put the NDD campaign on hold till further instructions, said Khammam District Medical and Health Officer Dr Kalavathi Bai.

The concerned officials were asked to return the tablets bearing batch numbers 9658 and 9659 supplied to erstwhile Khammam. The campaign aims at preventing intestinal parasitic worms that could lead to anaemia and malnutrition in children.