Increased Concentration and Attendance: How Deworming Promotes Learning and Health in Schools

Deworming boosts a child's immune system and protects them from worm-related chronic disorders. It increases concentration and attendance, allowing students to be more productive in class. Worms infect more than one-third of the world’s population, with the most intense infections in children and the poor.

 Worm infestation in school-aged children is often the most severe of any age group. Children with the most severe soil-transmitted helminths (STH) infestation are frequently too unwell or weary to concentrate at school if they go at all. This, in turn, can lead to long-term issues, such as being unable to work at higher-paying employment.

In Kenya, over 5 million school-age children (SAC) are estimated to be at risk of parasitic worms causing STHs. This represents over 26% of children in Kenya at risk of STH (Okoyo et. Al, 2020. Prevalence, intensity, and associated risk factors of soil-transmitted helminths in Kenya).

Schools provide the most cost-effective means to give deworming pills to children since they have a readily available, comprehensive, and long-lasting infrastructure.

Last year, HopeCore conducted a mass deworming campaign in partner schools in Maara sub-county to protect the students against soil-transmitted helminths. HopeCore dewormed 45,009 students with albendazole and mebendazole and 45,588 students were educated. Our target is to deworm the students every six months during our school-based mobile clinics. Regular deworming helps children of school age maintain good health and nutrition, which leads to more enrollment and attendance, fewer class repetitions, and higher educational performance.

Deworming helps the most vulnerable children, such as girls and the impoverished, who are more likely to suffer from illness and hunger. According to teacher health champions from the schools where we conducted mass deworming, our school-based distribution of deworming pills has benefited students' health and increased school attendance.