CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Department of Health (DOH) is conducting this July the second round of its deworming activities in Central Luzon.
DOH Regional Development Management Officer Gina Manlapig said this is always done twice a year as it is scientifically proven effective.
The first round is regularly conducted in January, since the suggested interval for deworming of children is six months.
“July is also celebrated as the National Deworming Month, and our initiative is to avoid the morbidity effects of parasites since according to surveys, many children are infected with parasites,” she disclosed.
Nearly 1.16 percentage of the total population of the children in Central Luzon were recorded with moderate to high intensity of infection.
“School-based activities are done all over the region to deworm those children aged 5-18 years old. For community-based deworming activities, we target those aged 1-4 years old. High School students have been required to undergo deworming since 2015,” Manlapig furthered.
Out-of-school youth are likewise encouraged and given access to the deworming activities in the community.
Community-based deworming activities are harmonized with the schedule of school days for kids.
“We have already surpassed the target coverage of deworming, which is 85 percent of the total school population of the region ranging from the ages mentioned earlier. As of now, we have accomplished deworming 87 percent of the school population,” she remarked.
This year’s National Deworming Month celebration carries the theme “Oplan Good-bye Bulate Para Malusog, Matalino at Masigla Ang Inyong Mga Anak.”
“This is part of our aim to correct the common notion that poverty causes malnutrition, for we believe that it is the other way around. A malnourished child usually has a poor performance in school, which leads to troubles in looking for a stable job, resulting to poverty,” she stressed. –Jean Ricelle A. Aquino