Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit launched a Major State-wide De-worming Campaign

As a part of the Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna (CNSY), Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on 20 February 2012 launched a major State-wide de-worming campaign. The campaign was launched by administering chewable tablets to 50 school-going children at her residence.

Since soil-transmitted worms are the commonest infestations in pre-school and school-age children from poor communities, the campaign aims to de-worm the children and save them from worm-infested diseases such as anaemia, malnutrition, and physical and mental retardation. Regular de-worming is the most effective way of immediately reducing worm burden and relieving children of the disease.

Worms damage the health of children, limit their access to education and thwart their overall development. De-worming is by far the best way to immediately improve the quality of life for our children.

The Delhi Government had earlier conducted a study and found that the average prevalence of soil-transmitted worms was around 16 per cent.  To overcome this, all school-age children of Delhi Government schools, Municipal Corporation Delhi schools, New Delhi Municipal Council schools, Delhi Cantonment Board schools, pre-school children in Anganwadi centres, and the adolescent girls of SABLA programme was given one dose of the de-worming medication on 21 February 2012, the de-worming day.

The exercise is to be conducted in schools and Anganwadi centres, where the teachers and Anganwadi workers would administer mebendazole de-worming tablets to every child.

To support the campaign and ensure that it reaches children in adequate measure, a mechanism was devised to monitor the entire exercise. external and independent monitors have been deputed to ensure quality and complete coverage.

The programme will also benefit benefit the children coming to the Anganwadis and adolescent girls under SABLA programme.
The Chacha Nehru Sehat Yojna was introduced in November 2011 to provide health check-ups and free treatment to students studying in Delhi government, New Delhi Municipal Council, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Cantonment Board schools.  It seeks to provide free and comprehensive health services to all school-going children in Delhi.