KOCHI: As many as 7,15,175 children in the age group 1 to 19 will be given deworming tablets on the National Deworming Day on August 10 in Ernakulam. The Health Department has made elaborate arrangements to hold the event in association with the Ministry of Education and Social Justice and the Local Self-Governments. The initiative aims to combat the Soil-transmitted Helminth (STH) infections which cause malnutrition and affect academic performances of children.
The tablets will be distributed to students of all schools, including aided and unaided in State syllabus, CBSE, ICSE, play schools and anganawadis in the district under the supervision of experienced staff and teachers.Those children in the age group 2 to 19 will be given 400 mg tablets to be chewed along with a glass of water, whereas children aged 1 to 2 years will be administered half of the 400 mg tablet dissolved in one table spoon of water. The tablets will be distributed to those unaffected by the infection as well. Those who do not get the tablets on August 10 will be given the tablets on August 17 . The deworming tablets were successfully administered to 60 per cent of students in 2016 and 76 per cent of children in 2017 and this time the officers are aiming to achieve a target of 100 per cent this time, said officers at a press meet in Kochi.
The National Deworming Day will be inaugurated by Mayor Soumini Jain at a function to be presided over by Jancy George, standing committee chairperson (Health), district panchayat at St Albert’s Higher Secondary School.