Children in Shimla district to be administered Albendazole, vitamin A on February 23

Shimla Deputy Commissioner Anupam Kashyap today said dosages of Albendazole and vitamin A will be administered to children aged one to 19 years in all government and private schools and in anganwadi centres in the district on February 23.

Chairing a meeting of district-level task force committee constituted for the second round of National Deworming Day here, the DC said children aged one to five years will be provided with Albendazole and vitamin A tablets at anganwadi centres, primary health centres and play schools.

Similarly, children between the age of 5 and 19 will also receive Albendazole tablets in schools to improve their nutrition and prevent anaemia,” he said.

He said the one-day programme will be carried out in about 2,150 government schools, 450 private schools, 2,154 anganwadi centres by 997 ASHA workers in the district. Target has been set to administer the dosages to 2,21,319 children.

He said training had been provided for the successful conduct of the programme in the district.

The added that children aged 1-2 years will first be given 2 ml of vitamin A syrup, followed by half a tablet of Albendazole powder after a gap of five minutes. “Similarly, children aged 2-5 years will be given 2 ml of vitamin A and one tablet of Albendazole. Children above 5 years of age will be given a whole tablet of Albendazole. The medicine will not be given to children who are already ill,” said the DC.