Orientation Session Arranged For Media About Deworming Campaign In ICT Schools

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Mar, 2021 ) :Ministry of Federal education and Professional Training has arranged an orientation session for media organizations on the significance and need for ICT school-based children de-worming programme aged between 5 to 16 years.

According to a notification issued by the Federal Education Ministry on Thursday, the session has been arranged, in order to engage media organizations to create public awareness in the upcoming round of de-worming to be held in March, 2021.

The preparations by the government were underway to carry out the school based de-worming programme and, in that regard an orientation session for media persons was scheduled to be held on 6th March, 2021 (Saturday) at 03:00 PM at Islamabad Model School for Boys F-8/4, Islamabad.

World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 1.5 billion people were infected globally with Soil-Transmitted Helminthes (STH)-Intestinal Worms, with over 835 million children worldwide in need of treatment.

Pakistan was among the top-10 highest burden countries for STH globally. A recent national STH prevalence survey found that over 16 million school-age children in Pakistan were at risk of STH and require regular treatment including over 570,000 children in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), it added.

Though the WHO's global drug donation progarmme, deworming tablets were available at no coast and had already been ordered by the Ministry of National Health Services and Regulations & Administration Coordination.

To leverage this recent data, available medication and experiences of other countries coupled with success in scaling school-based deworming, Interactive Research and Development (IRD), Indus Health Network (IHN) and evidence action with technical experience were supporting the ICT administration and federal government for the launch of an evidence-based, cost-effective progarme to reach children in need of treatment.

Together, Ministries of Education, Planning Commission and Health with technical and financial assistance of interactive research and development Pakistan and Indus Hospital Network were able to successfully deworm over 200,000 children in Islamabad during 1st round of deworming in 2019 and over 221,000 during the 2nd round in 2020.