9th round of National Deworming Day targets 32.81 cr children, adolescent

Around 32.81 crore children and adolescent in the age group of 1 and 19 years will be covered in the ninth round of the Union Health Ministry's National Deworming Programme to be held next month, an official said.

The National Deworming Day (NDD) aims at combating the health risk posed by intestinal worms in children and adolescent.

It is conducted in all schools and anganwadis of the country on February 10, while a biannual round is recommended in selected states based on worm prevalence data. This year, the biannual round of NDD will be conducted on August 8 followed by a mop-up activities on August 16.

At a review meeting for the ninth round of the NDD, Deputy Commissioner for Child Health Programme Dr Ajay Khera congratulated participating states for reaching out to around 22.12 crore children and adolescents in the last round in February.

He also announced that the target for the August round of deworming is 32.81 crore at the meeting called by the Ministry of Health and organised by technical assistance partner Evidence Action.

State nodal officers for National Deworming Day (NDD), as well as representatives from WHO India and the Ministries of Women and Child Development, Human Resource Development, Youth Affairs and Sports, Panchayati Raj were among those who attended the meeting.

"Training and capacity building, media sensitisation and collaboration and convergence with other departments are programme areas we must continue to strengthen," Dr Khera said.

He also spoke about the importance of comprehensive census-based targets for the NDD to achieve maximum reach and lauded the states for their continued efforts towards inclusion of private schools and out-of-school children.