Winning the war on worms
The HinduLast year, the World Health Organisation said approximately 1.5 billion people globally were at risk of contracting soil-transmitted helminth infections — or roundworms. Recognising this challenge, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in 2015, launched the National Deworming Programme under the National Health Mission, one of the largest fixed-day, mass drug administration public health programmes in the world, to reach out to over 230 million children by 2020. The reach of mass drug administration is commendable, but what India needs to do on a war footing is to focus on preventive chemotherapy, improved sanitation facilities, enable access to clean/safe drinking water, and enable hygiene awareness. In February 2018, India reached out to more than 266 million children through the National Deworming Day programme.
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