Government rolls out plan to deworm five million children

By Edwin Makiche

The Government has rolled out a deworming exercise targeting children between the ages of two and 14 in primary schools.

The five-year programme, funded by the World Health Organisation (WHO) among other donors, will be implemented by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and is targeting at least five million children across the country.

Addressing the Press on Mondday after a stakeholders training held at a Bomet hotel, Edward Githinji, a senior researcher with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, said the exercise was informed by a national baseline parasitological survey held in parts of Nyanza, Western, Rift Valley and Coast provinces.

Githinji said the findings showed that the parasitic load among children of school going age met the WHO recommendation for mass drug administration.

Githinji added that worm related ailments contributed at least 25 per cent of absenteeism among school going children. He further said that at least 13 per cent of the children in Kenya were less likely to be literate due to worms.

Low literacy levels

“The worms suck either blood or nutrients that are needed for development of brain cells. This can be linked to the low literacy levels in areas where the spread of these worms is pronounced,” he said.

Already, the two ministries have rolled out a training programme for teachers in Bomet District ahead of the District Deworming Day to be held on October 31.

Bomet Public Health Officer Mica Koech said they were training two teachers per school who in turn would train other teachers.