MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday called for public vigilance against intestinal worms or helminthiasis among children, which affects not only their physical health but their mental health as well.
“Parasitism or worm infections remain a public health problem, having the widest distribution and the highest prevalence rate among children,” Duque said, after the Department of Health (DOH) received 17 million tablets of Mebendazole, a deworming drug, from its international partner Feed the Children International (FCTI).
In 2006 and 2007, the FCTI also donated 3.8 million and 3.5 million tablets of Mebendazole, respectively, in efforts to reduce incidence of worm infection in the country.
DOH records showed that in 2004, the prevalence rate of parasitism in the country was 67 percent among children in the one- to five-year-old age group.
In a 2006 study by the DOH, University of the Philippines, and the United Nations Children’s Fund among selected local government units, the prevalence rate of parasitism went down to 54 percent.
Last year, the DOH embarked on a deworming program among school children across the country to meet its target of reducing the 54 percent prevalent rate or five to six per 10 children to 30 percent or three per 10 kids by 2010.
Children with intestinal worms usually suffer stunted growth and chronic malnutrition, and bulging stomachs. They also perform poorly in school.
Soil-transmitted helminthes like flatworms, Duque admitted that the battle against intestinal worms could not be faced by the DOH alone.
He urged parents, private and public institutions and other stakeholders to support deworming activities.
“Children free of worms in their system have better opportunity of survival,” he added. – Sheila Crisostomo