Enthused by positive response of private schools in the recent Measles Rubella (MR) vaccination campaign, the State Health Department has decided to include them in de worming campaign for the first time. Under the programme Tablet Albandazole would be administered to children aged 1 to 19 years of age in February.
Informing media persons about the programme, the Director National Health Mission (NHM) Yugal Kishore Pant said on Thursday that Albendazole tablet would be administered to the children aged between 1 and 19 in all the schools, Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM) and Anganwadi centres of the State.
He added that 40 lakh children of the State would be covered under the programme. last year the programme covered 26 lakh children but this year the inclusion of private schools is expected to increase the figure by 14 lakh. Under the programme children between the ages I – 2 would be given half tablet while children between age 2 to 19 would be administered one tablet.
The NHM director said that special monitoring teams would be deployed in different districts of the State. He added that special monitoring teams are being deployed in all the districts and a total of 51000 officers and employees of health, education and other departments would participate in the campaign on National Deworming day. The department would hold a mop-up round on February 15 to cover the left-out children.
The helminth worms are the cause of malnutrition and retarded growth in a large number of children. The helminthes are the parasites that absorb nutrition from the body tissues and induce malnutrition which adversely affect growth of body and apart from physical growth the worm also affects mental growth of the individual. The medical experts are of the view that de-worming helps in increasing attendance of students’ up to 25 percent in the schools.
The helminthic infection occurs by defecating in open, walking barefooted, keeping low personal hygiene and eating infected food. He said that the symptoms of the disease are retarded growth, anaemia, loss of appetite, stomach ache, vomiting and irregular bowels.