India has achieved yet another milestone in the health system
by successfully treating over 50 per cent of all school children at risks of
worms. WHO had set the global target on deworming and India achieved it within
eight months. The next target of WHO is the coverage of 75 per cent of all
school goers at risk by 2022.
Following the guidelines, the government had launched the first National Deworming Day on February 10 this year, a massive school-based deworming effort in twelve states. This initiative was focused on reducing the threat of parasitic worm infections which has become a worldwide health issue affecting over 241 million children in India alone. Along with government’s initiatives, some non-governmental organisations like Evidence Action also joined in to treat initial 140 million children in schools and pre-schools. It was later stretched to 155 million children. Based on this preliminary report, Department of Neglected Diseases of WHO has confirmed deworming coverage of 50 percent school children has been reached successfully.
According to a report 'Children in India', published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in the year 2012, over 48% of children under the age of 5 years are stunted and 19.8% are wasted, indicating that half of the country's children are malnourished. Further, India has the highest burden of soil-transmitted helminths in the world. These parasitic worms are the main causes of anaemia and malnourishment among children and they also interfere with children’s nutrient uptake.
The first phase of the programme was launched in Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Tripura. The government launched deworming programmes to treat children having highest risks for parasitic worms. Within eight months, India victoriously managed to meet the set target. India is now set to reach the WHO’s next target of treating 75 pc of school age population of worms.
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