Four lakh children to be administered de-worming tablets in HP

Hamirpur: About four lakh children up to 19 years of age will be administered de-worming tablets on National Deworming Day on May 25 in three Himachal Pradesh districts, officials said on Friday.

Children up to the five years of age will also be given Vitamin A supplements, they said.

The medicine will be distributed in schools and Anganwadi centres under the supervision of health workers or nodal officers in Hamirpur, Una and Bilaspur districts.

Children not enrolled in schools, Anganwadi or other institutions will also be administered the tablet with the assistance of ASHA workers on May 31, the officials said.

An initiative of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the distribution and administration of de-worming tablets aims to make every child worm free.

It is implemented with the objective to reduce the prevalence of Soil Transmitted Helminths or parasitic intestinal worms.

According to the World Health Organization, 64 per cent of Indians aged 14 or below are at risk of Soil Transmitted Helminths infections.