National deworming campaign to begin in Sirmaur from Feb 20

The Health and Family Welfare Department of Sirmaur is set to launch the National Deworming Programme from February 20, targeting thousands of children across the district. To ensure the success of this initiative, a district-level workshop was organised under the chairmanship of Chief Medical Officer Dr Ajay Pathak. The workshop brought together medical officers from all blocks, ASHA coordinators, supervisors and Community Health Officers for training and strategic planning.

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During the session, District Programme Officer Dr Vinod Sangal conducted training for the attendees, emphasising the importance of the campaign in addressing child health issues caused by intestinal worms. Under this initiative, the department aims to administer albendazole tablets to 1,72,526 children aged 1 to 19 years and Vitamin A supplements to 40,204 children aged 1 to 5 years. The programme will be implemented by a network of 646 ASHA workers and 42 health workers across the district.

Speaking about the importance of the campaign, Dr Pathak highlighted that intestinal worms are a major cause of anaemia, malnutrition and stunted growth among children. Deworming treatments help improve children’s nutritional intake, cognitive development and overall health. The initiative will be carried out in 1,480 government schools, 169 private schools and 1,573 Anganwadi centres, with schoolteachers, Anganwadi workers and Health Department staff working together to ensure maximum coverage.

Dr Pathak appealed to panchayat leaders, local representatives and the people to actively support the campaign. He urged parents to ensure their children receive the dose and to contact the nearest ASHA worker if their child misses the scheduled dose.