Govt to give deworming tablets to 0.9m children

An estimated 0.9 million children between 5 to 14 years of age will get free of cost deworming tablets during a five-day-long drive starting from April 5 to prevent parasitic worms from infecting them.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Jawad Khalid told the media that the drive would help overcome malnutrition and intestinal infections among the children as abdominal worms could cause several diseases.

The DHO said that children working at different places would also be given medicines besides those studying in seminaries and schools.Dr Jawad said that drive would not be compromised despite prevailing Covid 19 situation,adding parasitic worms have debilitating consequences on the health and education of children, and on their long-term earning potential.

He urged the citizens to cooperate with the health teams as a healthy child was essential for a healthy society.

There is a strong body of evidence supporting the benefits of school-based deworming, which include decreased school absenteeism, improved nutrition and cognition, and higher earnings in adulthood"

Published in The Express Tribune, March 29^th, 2021.