The Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Access Project is to offer de-worming tablets to school-going children and the extremely poor people, a senior project director has announced.

Dorine Kayirebwa, NTD’s Director and Community Mobilisation Officer, disclosed over the weekend that one million tablets will be given out freely to the affected persons.

Kayirebwa said there will be periodical tests among those taking the tablets to access the internal parasites’ prevalence.

She was speaking during a one-day seminar organised by NTB at Iwacu Kabusunzu.She said that preventive measures such as proper sanitation which entails proper usage of latrines, drinking boiled water, wearing shoes, washing hands before having meals, washing hands after visiting toilets and general cleanliness should be key tips to observe. 

Some of the symptoms of intestinal worms’ infection include general weakness, pale eyes, diarrhea, emancipation and swelling of belly   Intestinal worms are very common among the school-going age and the extremely poor people, largely because of their life styles are conducive for the growth of the parasites.

They cause diseases such as askaris, ankylostomes, taenia, bilharzias or schistomiasis.Ends