Deworming campaign among ‘school going children’ starts in KP

Deworming campaign among 'school going children' starts in KP
Deworming campaign among 'school going children' starts in KP

PESHAWAR, Nov 14 (APP): The campaign to protect children from intestine related diseases by administering them deworming tablets has been initiated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with a target of covering 7.8 million children.

According to a press release issued here on Monday, Special Secretary P&D Abidullah Kakakhel inaugurated the campaign.

During the campaign deworming tablets would be given to children in 25,000 schools, both private and public, besides students from religious seminaries in 22 districts of the province would also be administered tablets.

School going children studying in class one to ten and out of school children in the age range of five to 14 years would be given deworming medicine till November 18.

Speaking on the occasion, Special Secretary Abidullah Kakakhel said quality medicine would be given to target children during the campaign.

Provision of medicine at school is a easy approach to target maximum number of children in protection of them from different diseases of intestine by riding them of from helminths parasites such as roundworm, flukes and tapeworm.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Peshawar Imran Yousafzai in his speech said according to World Health Organization (WHO) around 1.5 billion people in the world or one among in every four persons are faced with intestine related diseases.

Out of these 1.5 billion infected people around 830 million children were in need of treatment, Imran Yousafzai added.

These diseases usually occurs due to poor hygienic conditions and school going children are the most affectees.

Focal Person for KP Deworming Programme Dr. Attaullah Khan said that according to a survey, around 170 children in Pakistan out of which around 7.8 million are in KP were found in need for treatment of intestinal diseases.

The deworming campaign in KP is being supervised by a multi sectoral steering committee headed by Health Department of the province, Dr. Attaullah added.

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