Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, Department of Health- 6 (Western Visayas) Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases Coordinator during Wednesday's (May 2, 2018) press conference. (Photo by Perla Lena)
ILOILO CITY -- Eight schools in Iloilo City have joined the deworming program of the Department of Health (DOH) although not all of their students availed of the program.
Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, DOH 6 (Western Visayas) Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases Coordinator, said during Wednesday afternoon’s press conference that they posted a low accomplishment in their deworming program last year because of the inclusion of private schools in the target.
She said that “we cannot push so much” because some of the children have their own private pediatrician.
The schools included Colegio del Sagrado Corason de Jesus, Assumption Iloilo, San Jose Parochial School, Sun Yat Sen High School, Westbridge School for Boys, Angelicum School Iloilo, Iloilo Scholastic Academy and Filipino American School Town Iloilo.
The DOH on Thursday gathered private schools in the city for an orientation about the program.
Te expressed hope that more schools would participate, including the University of San Agustin, which has signified that it will join the July round of deworming after hearing of its benefits.
The government’s deworming program, held twice a year, initially involved only Kindergarten up to Grade 6 pupils but has been expanded to cover up to Grade 12 students.
Deworming seeks to address soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), which when left untreated, could result in anemia, malnutrition, weakness, and impaired physical and cognitive development, which in turn would result in poor growth and school performance among children.
“We assure that our medicine is safe,” Te said, adding that it is also similar to the medicines being provided by private doctors.
This year, DOH targets to deworm some 3,750,437 Kindergarten to Grade 12 students.
In 2017, 78.9 percent of the target population, or 520,426 students, availed of the first round, while 388,290, or 78 percent, joined the second round.
The first round this year, held last January, covered 69 percent or 388,290 students out of the 605,101 enrolled in secondary schools. (PNA)
