Deworming drive: Centre to target 34 crore children

New Delhi: Introduced with an aim to reduce incidence of anemia among children, the largest single-day, school-based deworming effort by the Union health ministry is all set to target 34 crore children this time. The nationwide, pre-school and school-based deworming effort will be observed across India on February 10 to deworm all children.

Since its inception in 2015, 33 crore children have been dewormed, 22 crore in 2016 and 11 crore in 2015. “This year we aim to target 34 crore children, the maximum so far,” Union health secretary C.K. Mishra said.

On National Deworming Day Friday, the ministry, for the first time, will also cover private schools and has asked state governments to rope them in, while it has set up 210 monitoring centres across the country to tackle adverse reactions of the tablet like stomach ache and vomiting.

India has the highest burden of worm infections in the world, with the WHO estimating in 2014 that over 22 crore Indian children aged between 1 and 14 years are at risk.

“31 states and UTs will implement this programme in February 2017. The rest will do it in subsequent months,” Mr Mishra further said.

“This is also going to be a single-day strategy. Across the country, albendazole tablet is in place for use. It is a safe drug and we have been using it year after year and all technical experts including WHO have certified the safety and efficacy of the drug,” added Mr Mishra.

The Health Ministry this year is working with the Department of School Education and Literacy and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

“31 states and UTs will implement this programme in February 2017. The rest will do it in subsequent months,” Mr Mishra further said.