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Deworming programs

When schoolchildren are not infected with worms, they are healthier and more energetic and can learn better.

The most common internal worm in Haiti is Ascaris. It affects up to 40 percent of school children in Haiti, as a result of unclean water.
On the morning of April 30, the UPLIFT Haiti Team administered albendazole chewable tablets to about 350 children of the St. Isidore Grade School in La Colline.

We watched the children in grades K-8 chew the tablets. We then left enough tablets for second and third doses for all children, to be administered in 4 months and 8 months (again using Directly Observed Therapy). This will comply with the recommended schedule for de-worming.

Later on April 30, the UPLIFT Haiti Team travelled about 20 miles to another, more remote village, L'Etang Rey. There we left enough albendazole to treat the 200 grade school children through the end of 2010. We are exploring how we can continue the albendazole treatments to provide continuous protection for the children.