National Deworming Week: Children, youth up to 19 years in Himachal to be given Albendazole

Hamirpur: Under the National Deworming Week being celebrated from 20 to 25 September this month, all children, adolescents and youth in the age group of one to 19 years in Himachal Pradesh will be administered doses of albendazole medicines, officials said here on Tuesday.

In a meeting here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, Debasweta Banik it was decided to cover about 1.30 lakh children of Hamirpur district under this nationwide program.

Also Read:Medical College Withholds Doctor's MBBS degree over scholarship dispute, Govt comes to rescue

The Deputy Commissioner said that due to the closure of most educational institutions in the state in the wake of the COVID pandemic, this time a door-to-door campaign will be launched to administer the medicine to the children.

In this, apart from the Health Department teams of, the role of ASHA workers and Anganwadi workers will be very important. The Deputy Commissioner asked the officials of the Health Department to coordinate with the officials of the Women and Child Development Department and the Education Department to make this campaign a success.

The Deputy Commissioner informed that apart from Albendazole, vitamin-A medicine will also administered to the children between one to five years of age. He directed the officials of the Health Department to specially focus on the settlements of migrant workers during this campaign.

Presenting the details of the campaign in the meeting, Chief Medical Officer Dr RK Agrihotri and District Program Officer Dr Ramesh Rattu said that Albendazole does not have any side effects. He said that if the child has worms in the stomach, then he can be vulnerable to diseases like malnutrition and anemia. Apart from this, if the child is deficient in Vitamin-A, then he may have problems with ones eyesight and may suffer from night blindness.

Also Read:New BSc Nursing Syllabus Ignores Disability Rights, Medical Ethics Included