The Neglected Tropical Disease Unit in Cross River’s Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Evidence Action, a non-governmental organisation, is targeting 886,292 children for the 2024 school deworming in the state.

The annual comprehensive state-wide, school-based deworming exercise began on Wednesday, April 24, and would be concluded on Tuesday, April 30.

The exercise will be implemented by NTD in partnership with the state Ministry of Education, the state Universal Basic Education Board and the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency.

A total of 623,828 school-aged children will be targeted to receive mebendazole tablets for the preventive treatment of soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), 173,000 will be targeted for SCH treatment and about 1,000 trained health workers will administer the tablets in 2,000 schools across 14 local government areas.

Briefing journalists on the exercise on Wednesday in Calabar, Veronica Mark, Cross River’s NTD coordinator, said the diseases were common in children.

Ms Mark said the treatment would take place in 14 LGAs, adding that the infections known as intestinal worms result from poor sanitation and hygiene conditions and tend to have the highest prevalence in school-aged children.

According to her, “the infection can lead to anaemia, malnourishment and impaired mental and physical development, ultimately affecting children’s educational outcomes and income as adults if left untreated. These worms disproportionately affect the poor, who are less able to afford the costs of diagnosis and treatment.

“It also will potentially increase the inequality gap that currently exists and derail the country’s development goal of equitable access to health and education,” he said.

Similarly, senior manager, Evidence Action, Nigeria, Toochi Ohaji, said treating at-risk children through schools is an evidence-based, cost-effective solution.

Mr Ohaji maintained that Evidence Action, as a partner fighting neglected tropical diseases in Cross River, has been providing technical assistance in planning, capacity building and logistics.

“We also partner in data collection and reporting, community mobilisation, monitoring and supervision of the school deworming programmes for STH and SCH,” he said

Available data shows that globally, over one billion children are at risk of intestinal worm infections, while in Nigeria, over 48 million school-aged children require treatment of STH infections and 16.6 million children require treatment for SCH. 

(NAN)