The Federal Government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development said it will deworm at least ten million pupils, alongside the school feeding programme, for improved health.
The ministry said the exercise became necessary because some of the food items served to the children might have some chemical agents or germs in them.
So if we deworm them, they will be healthier, while their brains will function better,” the government said.
The deworming exercise according to the National Coordinator, National Social Investments Programme (NSIP), Dr Umar Bindir, will be done regularly.
Naija News understands that Bindir revealed this yesterday at a five-day Planning Meeting and Development of Information Education Communication (IEC) Materials in Abuja.
The deworming exercise is meant only for pupils from Primary One to Primary Six, particularly those in public schools.
Bindir stated clearly that the programme was not for only the beneficiaries of the home-grown school feeding programme.
According to him, the national home-grown school feeding programme is one of the Federal Government’s National Social Investment Programme, aimed at providing one free rich nutrient meal every school day for pupils in primary one to primary three in public schools.
Represented by the Deputy Director, Planning, Research and Statistics in the ministry, Safiya Sani, Bindir said: “As we are feeding them, there is also the need for us to deworm them so that the food could work properly in their system to improve their health conditions.
“We will be doing this regularly because some of the food items might have some chemical agents or germs in them. So if we deworm them, they will be healthier, while their brains will function better,” he said.
He said that in line with its multi-sectoral nature, NHGSFP had embedded adjunct school health and nutrition activities in its effort to maximise the benefits of the free school meals on the health of pupils.
“The main objective of this five-day interaction is to outline the modalities for the deworming exercise, which include: sensitising the partners and ensuring their commitment.
”It will also develop and harmonise the IEC materials and reporting template for the nationwide exercise,” he said.
