Over 900,000 school-aged children in Cross River State are set to benefit from a mass deworming campaign spearheaded by Evidence Action, a global non-profit committed to fighting neglected tropical diseases.
The intervention, announced at the weekend during a media parley held at the NUJ Press Centre in Calabar, is part of the organisation’s 2025 strategy to eliminate intestinal worm infections among vulnerable children in partnership with the state government.
According to the Senior Program Manager, South South for Evidence Action, Toochi Ohaji, the initiative will target 912,854 children across 14 out of the 18 local government areas of the state. This follows the successful deworming of 847,455 children in 2024.
“Our goal is to eliminate intestinal worms as a public health problem,” Ohaji stated. “We’re working with state and federal authorities to scale up school-based deworming in high-burden areas like Cross River.”
He highlighted that school-aged children are the most affected by soil-transmitted helminths and schistosomiasis, leading to malnutrition, anaemia, and impaired cognitive development. These infections also result in millions of lost school years annually, further deepening poverty.
Ohaji said the cost-effectiveness of school-based deworming, noting that the programme utilises existing school infrastructure to train teachers and health workers to administer safe and effective treatment at less than $0.50 per child.
He said Evidence Action, which has operated in Nigeria since 2016, has treated over 42 million children across six states, including Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, and Cross River. In Cross River, the organisation is supporting the training of more than 2,500 health and education personnel, community mobilisation, drug distribution, and monitoring.
He called on the media to play a proactive role in sensitising the public and countering misinformation, particularly around the safety of deworming drugs.
“The media is essential in shaping perceptions and encouraging parental consent, which is vital for reaching our targets,” he said.
According to Ohaji, the 2025 campaign is expected to cover LGAs including Calabar Municipal, Obudu, Yakurr, Bekwarra, and Ogoja, among others.
He said their intervention aligns with national and global efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases, which still affect over 1.5 billion people worldwide, including more than one billion children.
The organisation has also urged the state government to prioritise deworming in its health and education policies, ensure annual budgetary allocation, and support sustainability through domestic resource mobilisation.
