Imphal, Feb. 10: With the theme ‘worm-free children are healthy children,’ a state National Deworming Day event was held at the Anganwadi Centre at Shamushang, Naoremthong near here on Friday.
The function was jointly organised by the directorate of Health Services of Manipur; the department of Social Welfare, Government of Manipur; the department of Education under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Children in the age group of 1-2 years are to be administered half a tablet of Albendazole 400 mg for free to control worm infections while children above 2-19 years of age are to be given one full tablet as part of the programme.
Speaking during the occasion, Principal Secretary JC Ramthanga, of the Social Welfare department, said a series of meetings were conducted to make the National Deworming Day event a success and to create a mass awareness among the people. He said it was also important for different departments of the state and other stakeholders to ‘come together to make such programme a success.’ He hoped that the cooperation would be carried forward in the days to come.
In his presidential speech, director in-charge of the Health Services and Mission Director (National Health Mission) Dr H Ranjit Singh said that apart from administering de-worming tablets to children, it was important for parents to teach their children to maintain hygiene to remain overall healthy.
Also, in his speech, the commissioner for Education, M Lakshmikumar Singh, said that a child’s health will reflect the health of the society and nation. Without awareness and sensitization the departments involved cannot achieve 100 percent success in the programme, he said. He expressed hope that the National Deworming Day programme would be a grand success as it was ‘organised jointly by three departments of the state.’
Further, director L Nabakishwar Singh, of the Social Welfare department, also said that when a child falls ill, it affects their parents as well as in the education of the child.
Likewise, Director Dr K Rajo Singh of the Family Welfare Services appealed to the public for their support in building a healthy state. Children are the future of the nation, he said. In Manipur, around 12 lakh children and teenagers of the age group of 1-19 years are targeted under the programme this year through 4,000 schools and 11,500 anganwadi centres. The National Deworming Day was launched here the previous year in two phases February and August. It has so far achieved 90 percent of the set target.
Officials of the State Health Society, officials of Social Welfare department, officials of Education department, and ASHAs, anganwadi workers, children and parents, among others, attended the day’s observation.
