The physical wellbeing of the South African learner within the schooling system took centre stage at the Birchwood Hotel and Conference Centre in Boksburg on 12 February 2015. This meeting of health experts was held to inform the implementation and roll-out of a national Deworming Programme linked to the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) as announced by Minister Angie Motshekga in her Budget Vote Speech on 16 July 2014. The programme is aimed at improving quality education through the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) to prevent Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH) in learners.
During her presentation, Dr Laura Appleby, Programme Manager: NTD Control, Partnership for Child Development from the Imperial College in London, said that 600 million children of school-going age are at risk of parasitic worm infections globally. Appleby encouraged governments to implement the Deworming Programme in public schools because worm infestation impacts negatively on school attendance.
Deputy Director-General for Social Mobilisation and Support Services, Dr Granville Whittle said that the implementation of the Deworming Programme is necessary because there is evidence of infection by various worms in South Africa, including roundworms, whipworms and hookworms. “These worms are among the causes of infection in learners,” he said. The DDG added that the programme will only be feasible in the schooling system if the private sector, civil society and education stakeholders come on board to assist Government in providing health services to children. A budget of R30 million has already been made available in the current financial year.
In South Africa, STH infection is most prevalent amongst disadvantaged children who live in densely populated and under serviced areas such as informal settlements. High levels of infection have been documented amongst children in all provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, the Western Cape and Gauteng.
Research indicated that in 1999, 90% of children attending 12 primary schools in Cape Town were infected. In 2001, the prevalence of roundworms and whipworms were 89.2% and 71.6% respectively in children aged 2-10 years old in an informal settlement in Durban; in 2003, 45% of children in a study conducted in the Free State were infected with pinworms; in 2005, the overall STH infection rate was 55.8% in a large, non-selection sample of children attending nine schools in Cape Town. The experts agreed that deworming tablets are an important component of a Deworming Programme, together with Health Education and Hand washing as well as the provision of safe water and sanitation.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) funded meeting was attended by officials from the Departments of Basic Education, Health, Social Development and development partners, International NGOs and research/academic institutions.
