How to add deworming to vitamin A distribution; 2004

Aim of this manual

This manual is written for health planners and aims to promote the deworming of preschool children where vitamin A distribution campaigns are conducted.

In this manual, preschool children are defined as all children older than 1 year who are not yet attending school.

Attention is focused on this group because while school-age children (classified from the age of around 6 years onwards) are normally dewormed through school health programmes, preschool children are often not reached by deworming interventions.

In recognition of the constant demands made on health planners to prioritize health interventions, often with limited financial and human resources, this manual describes some of the advantages of combining two programmes which are often delivered separately: vitamin A distribution and deworming.

The manual is divided into three main sections that describe:
– the benefits of deworming preschool children;
– practical information about deworming drugs;
– experiences from three countries where deworming has been added to existing vitamin A distribution programmes.