Bengaluru: Close to 1.61 crore children would be dewormed on Monday as part of the National Deworming Day, a Union Health Ministry initiative to provide deworming medicines to all children aged between one and 19 years.
In Karnataka the campaign would cover government and government aided schools and close to 27,118 private schools. Furthermore, 62,580 Anganwadi Centres across the State with more than 40 lakh children registered at the Anganwadi Centres are set to be dewormed.
The drive aims to curb the prevalence of Soil-transmitted Helminths (STH) infections in Karnataka, which reports 49% of the total cases reported in the country. Worm infection can make children anaemic, malnourished and weak.
The move has been hailed by city doctorsl. Dr S.P. Senthil Kumar Consultant — Paediatric, Neonatal and Cardiac Intensivist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Whitefield said, "Worm infestation is a very serious problem, which affects children and stunts their growth. Prevention of worm infestation by deworming medication is very important. STH infections have long term effects and lead to reduced cognitive abilities, intellectual capacity and lower work productivity." Last year close to 1.29 crore children were dewormed on National Deworming Day.
National Deworming Day is a central government initiative make people aware about worm infections, its impact on the health, prevention and curing the infection.
