Er. Prabhat Kishore
Children are the future of any nation. But a large chunk of children suffer from worm infections, which impact their health, education, and overall well-being. To tackle this burning issue in Bharat, National De-worming Day is organized as a nationwide campaign to address the prevalence of worm infections among children. This significant public health initiative ensures a healthy future for the younger generation.
Children in the age group of 1 to 19 years are more susceptible to worm infections due to their lifestyle and environment. Nationwide planned interventions are necessary to break the cycle of parasitic worm infections, particularly soil-transmitted helminths (STH). Soil-transmitted helminths interfere with nutrient absorption and cause physical discomfort, resulting in anemia, malnutrition, and impaired mental and physical cognitive development, which severely impacts children’s educational performance as well as quality of life.
Deworming significantly reduces the prevalence of worms in children, thereby improving their physical health and nutritional status and eliminating the detrimental impact of worms on the brain, leading to improved learning ability and academic performance. Improved health leads to improved school attendance and education levels.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 241 million children aged 1 to 14 years in Bharat are at risk of parasitic intestinal worms. Regular deworming protects at-risk populations. The public should be aware of the symptoms of worm infection so that good health can be ensured by getting it treated on time. Initially, in cases of a few worms, no noticeable signs may be experienced, but as the infection progresses, various digestive discomforts like diarrhea, abdominal pain, weakness and fatigue, loss of appetite, nutritional deficiencies, and skin problems start occurring.
The prevalence of parasitic worm infections is a significant public health concern and can also be reduced by certain common community measures, such as avoiding open defecation, not moving barefoot, washing fruits and vegetables before use, cooking meat and vegetables properly, avoiding raw or uncooked street food, cleaning the kitchen, drinking treated or boiled water, cleaning nails, and washing hands after contact with soil while playing or gardening.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, launched National Deworming Day (NDD) on 10th February 2015. The day is observed bi-annually on 10th February and 10th August to intensify nationwide effective approaches for training healthcare professionals, distribution of deworming Albendazole tablets to school-going children, and proper monitoring and evaluation.
The objective of National Deworming Day is to deworm all pre-school and school-age children (enrolled and unenrolled) in the age group of 1–19 years through Anganwadi Kendras and schools to improve their overall health, nutritional status, access to education, and quality of life. Albendazole tablets are not provided to children who are allergic to them, critically ill children, pregnant women, lactating women, etc.
National Deworming Day is an ample opportunity to protect school-going children from parasitic worm infections by administering Albendazole tablets and providing training and guidance to school functionaries for their proper use. This will ensure a bright and healthy future for the children of the country, and the nation will step forward towards an “Anemia Mukt Bharat.”
