Telangana Launches Statewide Deworming Drive for 1 Crore Children

Swift Summary

• A National Deworming Day event was held on Monday at Telangana Social Welfare Residential School and junior College for Boys in Shaikpet, Hyderabad.
• Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha launched the campaign by administering an Albendazole (400g) tablet to a 10-year-old student on stage. Other students also received their doses, assisted by health officials and medical teams.
• The initiative targets children between ages 1 and 19,covering approximately 96.17 lakh children across government/private schools, Anganwadi centres, junior/vocational colleges, ITIs, polytechnics, degree/engineering colleges, childcare homes and juvenile homes in Telangana.
• By the end of the day:

– 85.58 lakh children had been covered under the programme.
– Hyderabad recorded the highest coverage with 9.87 lakh beneficiaries.- Rangareddy (7.8 lakh), Medchal Malkajgiri (7.77 lakh), and Nalgonda (3.86 lakh) followed in terms of reach.

• A mop-up round is planned for August 18 to ensure no child misses out on deworming tablets this year.
• Programme objectives include improving nutritional status,cognitive development,reducing school absenteeism caused by worm infections such as anaemia or diarrhoea and promoting hygiene practices among students.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The extensive rollout of National Deworming Day highlights Telangana’s proactive approach toward addressing public health concerns among its younger population. With over 96 lakh targeted beneficiaries spanning diverse educational institutions and welfare centres across urban and rural sectors alike-and nearly achieving a first-round coverage of almost 86 lakhs-this programme could have wide-ranging impacts on children’s health if successfully sustained annually.

Such state-wide campaigns reduce worm-related illnesses like anaemia while fostering awareness about hygiene’s role in disease prevention-a crucial measure for long-term societal gains like improved student attendance or academic performance.

Still requiring oversight is sustained monitoring towards equal distribution ,such larger scale coordination without missing procedural deadline continuity

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