To rid eligible school-age children of abdominal parasites, Ogun State Government will commence its annual deworming exercise between Tuesday, February 22 and Monday, February 28, 2022 in 12 endemic Local Government Areas of the State.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, who made this known in a statement, said the deworming programme would focus on using mebendazole, an anti-parasitic agent, assuring that the drugs are safe and set to be administered by health workers and trained teachers in schools and communities.

 She said the programme which would hold in Abeokuta North, Abeokuta South, Ado-Odo/Ota, Ewekoro, Ijebu East, Ijebu North East, Ijebu North and Ijebu-Ode, Ipokia, Obafemi/Owode, Odogbolu, and Ogun Waterside Local Government Areas is a collaboration among the Ministry of Health, a development partner, Evidence Action, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Coker said the exercise is targeted at children from ages 5 to 14 years, assuring that the drugs are free and effective for the prevention and treatment of Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis, which are caused by parasitic worms that emanate from open defecation, poor personal and environmental sanitation, as well as unhygienic practices.

"Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis, along with other NTDs such as Onchocerciasis (Inarun), Lymphatic Filariasis (Iwuse), Schistosomiasis (Atosi Aja) and Soil Transmitted Helminthiasis (STH), Abdominal Worms (Aran Inu), is associated with poverty, poor housing conditions, inadequate water supply and unhygienic conditions.

"These diseases often present symptoms such as abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, blood in stool, malaise, growth impairment and lack of concentration in affected persons. The overall consequences are poor academic performance and socioeconomic aftermath like low productivity in farming and trading activities",  she said.

The Commissioner added that the exercise is a reflection of the Prince Dapo Abiodun administration's vision of providing qualitative and accessible healthcare for all residents, particularly children and mothers, enjoining parents to allow their wards to participate in the exercise.