Chittoor gears up for National Deworming Day

Chittoor: The National Deworming Day programme will be conducted across all Anganwadi centres, government and private educational institutions in the district on Monday.

District Collector K Sumit Kumar said on Sunday that as part of the initiative, Albendazole tablets will be distributed to children.

The primary objective of this programme is to eliminate intestinal worms such as hookworms, roundworms, whipworms and tapeworms from children’s bodies, ensuring their overall health and growth. By addressing this issue, children will be able to develop into healthy and responsible citizens.

The presence of intestinal worms in children and adolescents can lead to nutritional deficiencies, anaemia, fatigue and hindered physical and mental growth. To protect children from these health risks, administering Albendazole tablets was essential.

As per the guidelines, children aged 1-19 years will receive deworming medication. Those between 1-2 years will be given a half tablet of Albendazole (200 mg), while children aged 2-19 years will receive a full dose of 400 mg. The tablets should be taken by chewing after lunch.

In the district, deworming tablets will be distributed to children at 2,420 Anganwadi centres, benefiting 76,924 children. In 2,883 government and private primary and upper primary schools, 2,36,691 students will receive the tablets. Additionally, in 163 government and private intermediate, polytechnic, ITI and nursing institutions, 43,787 students will be covered.

Out-of-school children, numbering 4,486, will also be included in the programme. Overall, a total of 3,63,888 children across 5,466 schools will receive deworming medication.

The distribution will be carried out by ASHA workers and Anganwadi staff for Anganwadi children, primary school students and out-of-school children. For high school students, tablets will be administered by ANMs. Residential school, model school, KGBV, Gurukul and minority school students, along with intermediate students, will receive the tablets under the supervision of male and female health supervisors.

Before the distribution, all school teachers, staff and kitchen workers responsible for preparing meals will be given the deworming tablets first. Afterward, the students will be administered the medication by chewing. For children who miss the deworming session on February 10, a follow-up ‘mop-up day’ will be conducted on February 17 to ensure 100 per cent coverage.