The Directorate of Health Services in collaboration with the Department of Family Welfare and with technical assistance from Evidence Action’s Deworm the World Initiative launched the state level program of the National Deworming Day. The deworming programme will be implemented across 3,032 schools and 11,500 anganwadi’s in Delhi along with a mop-up day.
Subodh Kumar Mishra, director, school health scheme in his welcome address said, “School level mass based deworming programme is a commendable initiative by the Delhi government. This programme will not only help children get dewormed, but will also help to address other issues like anaemia and malnutrition in growing children.”
Addressing the children at the occasion, chief guest, Satyendar Jain, Minister of Health, government of Delhi said, “Over 25 per cent children in Delhi are suffering from worm infestations. These worms act as parasites and suck up all the nutrition. I am happy that we are launching this programme, wherein administration of just one drug dose will help be worm free and healthy,” and added, “Right now we are rolling out this programme in government and government aided school. However to are looking forward to rolling out this programme in private schools, too.” In Delhi, Albendazole will be administered to children. Albendazole is a safe and effective drug for worm treatment without serious side effects.
This is the third mass deworming round in the state since 2012. The current round targets 3.7 million children in Delhi. In line with any mass-based public health initiative, comprehensive adverse event protocols have been put in place with comprehensive training for 461 officials at the state level of the departments of health, education and women and child development.
Priya Jha, country director of India Programmes for Evidence Action’s Deworm the World Initiative said, “We are proud to support the state health society and the department of family welfare. Regular deworming of children together with improved water, sanitation and health education, can significantly reduce the prevalence and health impacts of parasitic worms in children.”
India has the highest burden of soil-transmitted helminths — parasitic worms — in the world. Parasitic worms in children interfere with nutrient uptake and can contribute to anaemia, malnourishment and impaired mental and physical development. According to the 2012 report Children in India, 48 per cent of children under the age of five years are stunted and 19.8 per cent are wasted, indicating that half of the country’s children are malnourished.
A school-based, mass deworming programme is safe and highly cost-effective, and has been scaled to include millions of schools in India. Deworming has been shown to reduce absenteeism in schools and improve learning outcomes. The government of India has launched a fixed one-day school-based programme to leverage intensive deworming coverage and targeted outreach with the event. In Delhi, community mobilisation and outreach efforts are also being undertaken to spread awareness among parents.