City to conduct deworming for day-care students anew

The Cebu City Government is extending another mass treatment of intestinal helminthiasis or deworming to all children attending day-care centers after a successful mass treatment of intestinal helminthiasis among public elementary school children.

Cathy Yso, head of the Department of Social Welfare Services and the Early Childhood Care and Development Coordinator, said early treatment will be advantageous to preschoolers and that is why the city is extending the program to the day-care centers.

Early this month, day care workers have been providing deworming tablets free to some 9,881 children aged three to five years old who are enrolled in 147 day-care centers.

These children are also taught proper hygiene and environmental sanitation.

Last September 8, the Cebu City government through the City Health Department and the Department of Education Division Office in partnership with the National Institutes of Health of the University of the Philippines Manila launched the "Gubat Batok Bitok" program.

Simultaneous with the launching was the administering of the chewable mebendazole tablet to over 84,692 school children in 10 school districts covering 68 public elementary schools.

The deworming tablets were given to the students for free.

The project is a two-year implementation of mass treatment using chewable mebendazole (Antiox) 500 mg tablet. The deworming tablets were purchased by the project team through funds provided by the city government will be administered by school teachers in single dose every six months or two doses per year.

This project is implemented by the city under the UNICEF Sixth Country Program for Children.

UP/DOH/UNICEF nationwide study in 2004 show that Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH) infections are recognized cause of school absenteeism and poor academic performance.

Children aged five to 14 years old are at high risk for STH infections due to poor personal hygiene, frequent outdoor exposure and high-risk behavior. These infections may further result to complications such as malnutrition, anemia, growth retardation, delayed motor activity and poor mental development.

Studies show that intestinal helminthiasis remains as a major public health concern in the Philippines. Soil transmitted helminthiasis, the most common intestinal helminthiasis, ranked first among all communicable and non-communicable diseases in the school-age population of developing countries worldwide.

Vicente Belizario, Jr., deputy director and professor of parasitology and public health of the NIH-UPM said all teachers, school nurses and City Health Department staff will undergo orientation training to be conducted by the experts from NIH-UPM.

The mass deworming will be coupled with health education with emphasis on hand washing, personal protection and wearing of footwear, personal hygiene and environmental sanitation. The monitoring and evaluation of this project by the project team will make use of indicators as well as reductions in morbidity and absenteeism. - Garry B. Lao