Category Archives: de-worming

Thanks for Helping Us Reach More Than 1 Million School Children in Honduras!

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Honduran Children

Photo by Olivier Asselin

 

By Dr. Mirta Roses Periago, NTD Special Envoy 

This August, the END7 campaign asked for your help in treating more than 1 million school children in Honduras for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) – and I’m a happy to share that the joint effort was a success! Your donations helped ensure that 1,051,659 children in 11,576 public schools remain free from harmful parasitic worms for an entire year. On behalf of these children, their families and communities, I stand with END7 in saying thank you – ¡Muchas gracias!

You helped support Honduras’ national deworming campaign for school-aged children, which spanned throughout 18 states and 298 municipalities within the country. A strong collaboration led by the Ministry of Health of Honduras, with support from the Ministry of Education, the Healthy Schools Program, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Food Programme (WFP), Operation Blessing, MAMA Project and the END7 Campaign drove the campaign forward.

The campaign reached 88.6% of the children targeted for treatment (524,472 girls and 528,736 boys). And this effort was about more than just pill distribution. The Ministry of Health equipped health workers, volunteers, school personnel and partners with the knowledge, tools and training they need to implement additional campaigns in the years to come – ensuring that children are continually protected from intestinal worms which sap their energy, keep them with anemia and malnutrition and impair their capacity to grow and learn, thus perpetuating a life in poverty.

Embodying the “train the trainer approach,” health personnel at the regional level trained elementary school teachers in 298 districts, who in turn, trained parents on measures to prevent the transmission of soil-transmitted helminths (STHs, or intestinal parasites), amplifying the protection of children throughout the country.

Because NTDs are spread by unsafe water sources and inadequate hygiene and sanitation, the deworming campaign promoted hygiene education among children by demonstrating proper hand washing techniques as a way to prevent future infections. And because some schools in the poorest areas didn’t have clean water, four water filters were installed in the municipalities of Marcovia and El Triunfo in Choluteca states, where 100,461 people will benefit from the equipment. The water filters will ensure the water drank by these school children is clean and free from parasitic worms.

Honduras is the first country in the Latin American and Caribbean region to launch a national plan addressing these diseases.  Since the launch of the plan in 2012, in addition to scaling up its national deworming campaign,  the Honduras Ministry of Health and its partners have developed eight department level operational plans and trained personnel from each department on NTD control-related activities.

This year, you helped END7 create a better future for more than a million school children in Honduras. But they’re not stopping there. With continued support from people like you, END7 is working to make sure these children continue to receive treatment year after year. Get involved in the movement by visiting www.end7.org. Together we can see the end.

How You Helped Us Create 58,365 Success Stories in One Day

Africa, de-worming, Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH), , , ,

 

Photo by Richard Hatzfeld

Photo by Richard Hatzfeld

 

This was not your average school day in Sierra Leone. On July 8th, 2013, thousands of children in the Western Area Rural District arrived to class and received a life-changing packet of pills. While small and unassuming, these pills change lives and have the power to protect each child from debilitating and painful neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Sierra Leone is home to some of the poorest health conditions in the world. Intestinal worms affect the entire population of the country – leaving millions of children sick, tired, anemic and undernourished.  But thanks to you, we were able to ensure more than 58,000 of these children remain healthy and protected from NTDs for an entire year! Here’s how we did it together:

This April we showed you the stark human toll an NTD called schistosomiasis has on people in Sierra Leone. Our short film motivated thousands of you to take action by donating money and sharing our message. And with your help, END7 was able to support our partners on the ground in Sierra Leone this July.

 Helen Keller International and the government of Sierra Leone distributed deworming medicine to treat and protect 58,365 children against NTDs. But this was no easy task.

The distribution of deworming medicine took place at multiple schools in the Western Area Rural District of the country. Zonal advisors and teachers across the region had to be trained in pill distribution and mass drug administration (MDA) in order to carry out the task at hand. Once training was completed, the teachers were ready to distribute medicine to thousands of children, and the children were ready to go to school to receive the life-saving medicine on July 8th. Together, we created 58,365 success stories in just one school day.

But that’s not where this story ends. The government of Sierra Leone is continuing the task of treating every child in the country against NTDs. Sierra Leone’s Neglected Tropical Disease Control Program plans to control and eliminate these diseases by 2015 and is working aggressively to do so. Even more, Helen Keller International, who’s been working in the country since 2002, is dedicated to seeing the end of NTDs in the country. Throughout HKI’s 12 years in-country, they’ve completed surveys on the prevalence of NTDs in Sierra Leone in addition to providing training and education so that Community Directed Distributors can distribute multiple treatments at the same time. We know our collective efforts will make a big difference in the lives of children living in Sierra Leone.

The July MDA in Sierra Leone demonstrates the effectiveness of NTD treatment when coordinated through already established institutions like local schools. Because children are so vulnerable to the effects of NTDs, school systems offer a unique and effective way to provide treatment to children who are infected or at risk of infection.

To date, END7  funds have contributed to several school-based deworming programs.  But with your help, we can double – or even triple(!) – the number of school kids reached across the world! Will you donate? Together we can see the end.

More Bookworms, Fewer Intestinal Worms

Africa, Asia, de-worming, END7, Global Health, NTD Controll, NTDs, parasites, poverty, , ,

 

Globally, more than half a billion children are infected with neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), hindering their development and ability to learn. Parasitic worm infections like roundworm, hookworm and whipworm, deprive children of the essential nutrients they need to grow and act like, well, the rambunctious children they’re supposed to be!

Watch and share this video from END7:

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Instead of being able to walk to school, concentrate in class and socialize with friends, they’re suffering from severe anemia, malnutrition, fevers and intestinal pain caused by these often chronic and simultaneous infections.

Studies have shown that deworming children can reduce school absenteeism by 25 percent, while other leading economists have found that combining deworming programs with other health interventions in already-existing schools is one of the best public health investments out there. This summer END7 worked with the ministries of health and education in Honduras to support a program that treated more than 1 million school children.

educationIt costs approximately 50 cents to treat and protect one child against the seven most common NTDs for a year. But that’s not all we need to ensure that this generation’s future politicians, mathematicians, teachers, peace builders and problem solvers get to class.

We need you. With your support, you can help us at the END7 campaign build awareness for these devastating infections and their cross-cutting solutions. By watching this short video and sharing with your friends, you can help so many kids get the education they deserve.

 

Making Progress against NTDs in Honduras

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Three to four hours. That’s how long one mother was willing to walk to make sure her child attended the annual vaccination and deworming campaign in the village of Coyalito in San Esteban, Honduras.

This past April was my third trip to Honduras in the last 14 months. On my first two trips, I spent the majority of my time running between government offices and meetings – including attending the launch of the Honduras national integrated plan on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).  Honduras was the first country* in Latin America and the Caribbean region to launch such a plan – which ensures that the country is tackling all diseases at once – versus one at a time.

This time on my return to Honduras, I saw firsthand how that plan was being put into motion.

And I was amazed.

For a country facing severe challenges in security and violence, Honduras is a leader and innovator when it comes to tackling NTDs.

Three government divisions – the Ministries of Health, Education and Social Development are working together to reach people in even the most remote parts of the country.  They’ve taken charge by developing working groups to tackle issues and problems they notice when bringing the programs to the community.

They’re enthusiastic. They’re driven. And I’m quite positive that they’re going to succeed.

I know this because I traveled over six hours with the Ministry of Health over unpaved and rocky roadways on their visits to various districts.  Distribution was carefully arranged: a health worker used a loud megaphone to call out to members of the community to invite them to visit the vaccine and deworming campaign.  From there, mothers would bring their young children to receive essential vaccines and deworming medicine.

A nurse practitioner told me that bundling healthcare delivery– such as vaccination and deworming – often encourages more families to come. Most parents know about these diseases, especially the intestinal worms.  In Honduras, and many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean,  there’s a common belief that if children grind their teeth at night, they have parasites. There is a demand for deworming, and mothers came armed with their child’s immunization card and found a space to account for their child’s annual deworming treatment.

The Honduran ministries are also thinking beyond treatment for NTDs to a more comprehensive approach.  These diseases are often spread due to lack of access to clean water and proper sanitation, which is a reality for some of the families in villages like Coyalito.  As a result, the ministries are pushing to incorporate water filters in schools, and other sanitation initiatives which will propel these treatment programs toward long-term success.

At the end of the day, I joined the health team in brief survey to determine attendance of the campaign. We walked around each “manzana” – or block – to knock on people’s homes and ask them if children were dewormed and vaccinated. Health workers talked to them about why it’s important to attend these campaigns and have their children treated.

Among advocacy organizations, it seems that we often divvy up health issues, as if family planning, treatment for NTDs and vaccination are all independent projects.  But, the reality is that often, at the point-of-care level, everything is bundled together. It’s very effective.

Our partners in Honduras want to expand this successful initiative to help many more families. END7 is asking supporters to help fill a funding gap to make sure this medicine reaches Honduran children in 20,061 schools. With your help we can reach 1.4 million school children and protect them harmful parasitic worms, including roundworm, hookworm, and whipworm.

Help us see the end of NTDs in Honduras by making a contribution. Read more about END7’s effort to raise money and support for NTD treatment in Honduras here.

*In March 2013, Brazil launched their integrated national plan, and currently several other countries have draft plans in development.