Uganda’s Ministry of Health to deworm 22 million children

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ministry of Health is to carry out a massive deworming campaign for children in the country to reduce cases of anemia in the country.

Dr. Charles Olaro, the Director of curative services at the Ministry of Health said that in Uganda 53 percent of children below 5 years have anemia because of the worms and 39 percent of pregnant women are also affected.

Dr. Olora told Uganda Radio Network at a function where the Food for the Hungry organization donated 600 doses of deworming tables to the ministry of health that deworming is is mostly neglected by individuals yet worms are dangerous to life.

Now the ministry has come up with a strategy of working with the school health programs in the country and also involving religious institutions and markets to reach all the children during the child health months of April and October which comes every year.

While handing over the consignment to the Ministry of Health, Dorothy Namayanja who is the program Delivery Manager from Food for Hungry Uganda said that according to the Uganda Demographic and Health, survey 29 percent of children 6 to 59 months are stunted, which prompted them to support the ministry of health to scale up evidence-based nutrition intervention.

Namayanja said that they expect to increase growth and weight gain in children, increased resistance to other infections and improvement in school attendance, and improvement in children’s ability to perform in school.

Matayo Gamutunu, the warehouse officer from the ministry of health said that the dewormers are to be distributed to the regions of Acholi, Lango, West Nile, Busoga, and Sebei region for the start according to the ministry of health and the quantities they have in store.

The ministry of health has received a donation from Food for the Hungry worth 4.5 million doses of dewormers worth 601 million shillings. The de warmers will be distributed through the Uganda National Medical stores to different districts to promote immunization and micro nutrient supplementation.

The 4.5 dozes donated will only cover 20 percent of the national need for the upcoming child health days in April.

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