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WHO SEARO organized a two-day Informal Consultation on 10
– 11 October 2011 on the burden of soil – transmitted helminthaisis
(STH) in SEA Region, and plans to scale up preventive chemotherapy to school
– age children. Articipants included technical
experts, national programme managers from high –
burden Member countries, and partners. Dr. RC Mahajan,
Emeritus Professor, Parasitology, Postgraduate
Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India,
chaired the consultation.
As per the revised estimate of WHO,
372 million preschool and school – age children in this Region will need
preventive chemotherapy (PCT) either with albendazole
or mebendazole. This accounts to 43% of the 883
million children in the world. In 2009, the Region treated 39% of all
children requiring preventive chemotherapy mainly through the ongoing mass
drug administration (MDA) of lymphatic filariasis,
which includes albendazole. Since the global target
is to reach at least 75% of the children by 2020, many drug donors and
partners are coming forward to support expansion of plans to deworm children. Free supplies of albendazole/mebendazole
will be made to countries with high burden of STH. Pre-school aged children are being dewormed through nutrition/immunization campaigns.
The expert group made the following recommendations to
utilize all available opportunities to scale up plans to deworm
children:
1. Designate
a focal point in the national and sub-national Ministries of Health to
coordinate STH control activities
2. Undertake
situational analyses based on existing data at national or sub-national
levels to identify areas with a high burden of STH, and prioritize control activities
accordingly. In areas within the country, where there is a lack of primary
data to determine the STH prevalence, take steps to gather appropriate
epidemiological data.
3. Set
up high-level inter-sectoral coordination committee
(or task force) at national and / or sub-national levels to facilitate
engagement of all relevant partners for STH control activities. Such partners
may include stakeholders within the health sector, as well as education,
water and sanitation, community development, women and child development
sectors and non-governmental organizations
4. Explore
opportunities to integrate STH control with control of lymphatic filariasis and other neglected tropical diseases or any
other programmes that may be considered appropriate
e.g. reproductive and child health. Scaling down of lymphatic filariasis control activities may be taken into account
while planning STH control activities.
5. Maximize
benefits from the current opportunities provided by the increased support
from international agencies and donor partners for STH control.
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