Nepal: ensuring a worm-free childhood

August 2008

WHO/H. Allen

Most children in developing countries are infected with common intestinal worms. The parasites can cause malnutrition and sap a child's ability to grow, thrive and learn.

Over nearly a decade, in one of the world's most effective worm control programmes, female village volunteers in Nepal have distributed over 20 million tablets of albendazole, a deworming drug, to Nepali pre-school children.

With such broad and regular use of the drug over the years monitoring drug resistance is essential to ensure ongoing worm control success.

This photo story shows how Nepali health workers, assisted by WHO and UNICEF, carried out a study among school children to find out if the drug is still working.

Read the photo story

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