In public schools in Central Visayas: DOH-7 schedules mass deworming

CEBU, Philippines - Some schoolchildren are getting “unproductive” due to parasites living and breeding inside their intestines.

So, the Department of Health Central Visayas has set a mass deworming activity on January 27 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. A mop-up is scheduled for January 28 to February 3, excluding weekends, to cover all those children who were absent.

 DOH conducts deworming twice a year, January and July, for public school students up to 12 years old.

It has budget allocation of around P42 million, 15 percent lower than last year’s P49 million budget, for the synchronized deworming activity.

 Doctor Joanri Riveral, a medical specialist of DOH-7, said schoolchildren should be subjected to deworming to get rid of the parasites and help them to be productive and active anew in school.

 “Ang bata nga dunay bitok makabogo gumikan kay di makuha niya ang saktong nutrisyon kay duna siya’y katunga niini mao sige lang og mika ug unhealthy,” he said.

 Doctor Jonathan Neil Erasmo, chief of the DOH-7 Communicable Diseases Control Section, agreed saying that taking the pill, albendazole used to treat neurocysticercosis an infection of the nervous system caused by pork tapeworms, will enhance the person’s mental capability and increase hemoglobin level.

 Riveral said the chewable tablet, albendazole, is safe to take and effective, although there could be some instances when a pupil may feel some side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and headache.

 He said DepEd teachers will give the chewable tablets to the students with the assistance of health personnel.

 Even adults could take deworming medicine, Riveral said.

 Through the program, the candy-flavored tablets cost only P1 each. In private clinics, anti-worm medicines could cost from P5 to P25 each.

 The National Deworming Day targets to deworm 16 million schoolchildren from Kinder to Grade 6 in 8,656 public pre-schools and elementary schools across the country. — (FREEMAN)