PESHAWAR: The second phase of the deworming drive in schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will start from Oct 18.

Over 7.8 million children in 22 different districts will be dewormed during the drive, which will continue until Oct 22,” deworming initiative’s focal person Dr Attaullah and Pakistan Paediatric Association general secretary Dr Bawar Shah told a news conference at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday.

They said all children enrolled in classes 1 to 10 in government and private schools, religious seminaries and out-of-school children between 5 to 14 years of age would be encouraged to access treatment at the nearby school on the deworming day.

The initiative, they said was aimed at protecting the health of all children in the province. The deworming programme will not only improve the health of children but it will also increase their effectiveness and performance in the educational institutions for welfare of the society, they added.

Dr Attaullah and Dr Bawar Shah said abdominal diseases and infections usually spread due to unhygienic conditions which posed serious threat to children’s lives, mainly in the remote areas. They said these illnesses had direct bad effects on education and overall performance of children.

Dr Attaullah expressed the hope that the campaign would be run with the cooperation of schoolteachers to administer the deworming tablets to children.

He said districts where the campaign will be launched included Peshawar, Khyber, Mohmand, Charsadda, Nowshera, Mardan, Swabi, Haripur, Torghar, Battagram, Malakand, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Upper and Lower Kohistan, Kolai-Palas, Lower and Upper Dir, Bajaur, Upper and Lower Chitral.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2021