National deworming day

National deworming day
● National Deworming Day (Phase I) is observed on 10 February annually.
● Bi-annual round of deworming is recommended in the states with prevalence of 20% STH infestation and annual round of deworming is recommended for those states with less than 20% STH infestation.
● Only two states namely 'Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh' has reported less than 20% STH infestation for annual round of deworming is recommended in these states.
● All the remaining States/UTs are implementing bi- annual round of deworming.
● The first round of NDD was conducted on February 2015 and 8.9 crore children were dewormed across 11 States/UTs by achieving 85% coverage.
● Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, is the nodal agency for providing guidelines to all States/UTs regarding the implementation of National Deworming Day (NDD) at all levels.
● This program is being implemented through the combined efforts of the Department of School, Education and Literacy under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
● This program is one of the largest public health programs to reach a large number of children during a short period of time.
● The objective of National Deworming Day is to deworm all pre-school and school-age Children (enrolled and non-enrolled) between the age of 1-19 years through the platform of schools and Anganwadi centres in order to improve their overall health, nutritional status, access to education and quality of life.
● Helminths (worms) which are transmitted through soil contaminated with faecal matter are called soil-transmitted helminths (intestinal parasitic worms).
● Roundworm (Ascariasis lumbricoides-), whip worm (Trachuris trachurea), hookworm (Nectar americanus and Enclostomum duodenale) are worms that infect humans.