GOODBYE, BULATE. Dr. Rickson Balalio, Ilocos Norte acting provincial health officer, urges parents to bring their children to a mass deworming activity slated this month. The Provincial Health Office targets around 6,000 toddlers as initial beneficiaries, Balalio said in a virtual briefing on Tuesday (Jan. 16, 2024). (Screengrab)
LAOAG CITY – Some 6,000 toddlers of Ilocos Norte are targeted as initial recipients of the government’s deworming program this year to ensure that children aged one to four are free from soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), which is a public health concern.
“The mass deworming activity for our target age group has no date yet but we are now getting ready to purchase deworming tablets to be administered in barangay (village) health centers,” Ilocos Norte acting provincial health officer Dr. Rickson Balalio said in a virtual presser on Tuesday.
The Department of Health (DOH) is observing the intestinal worm eradication program called “Oplan Goodbye Bulate” this month as the worm infection, transmitted through contaminated soil, causes anemia, malnutrition, and impaired physical and cognitive development.
Balalio said the Provincial Health Office has been conducting mass deworming every January and July.
Aside from toddlers, he said a school-based deworming activity for kids aged 5 to 12 years will be conducted once the medicines have been procured.
In 2023, the program’s achievement rate in the province reached 62 percent, after 23,561 of the 38,194 target population were given two doses of the deworming medicines.
Balalio said they aim to increase their accomplishment rate by conducting more information drive to teach the public about the importance of preventing worm infection through keeping bodies clean and proper food handling. (PNA)
