Disease Prevention and Control
Deworming/Health, Hygiene & Sanitation Education
Since 1992, INMED’s longest-running direct health intervention—deworming treatment to combat intestinal parasitic infection—has improved the health and well-being of millions of vulnerable children around the world. Deworming treatment represents the critical first step toward improving the health of the children we reach through our current school- and community-based programs in Brazil, Peru, and South Africa.
INMED is now treating nearly more than 80,000 children in Brazil, 10,000 children in South Africa, and 140,000 children and women of reproductive age in Peru for intestinal parasitic infections with mebendazole, a deworming medicine donated by Johnson & Johnson and Janssen-Cilag. In addition, for children whose blood hemoglobin levels reveal them to be anemic or borderline anemic, we administer an intensive short course of iron and micronutrient supplements.
In the poor urban communities and remote rural areas where INMED works, children live in precarious conditions, and their health is compromised by a lack of sanitation infrastructure and potable water, minimal access to health care services, and poor nutrition. Deworming, with its immediate and dramatic health benefits for children, also provides a good entry point in community-based programs, eliciting buy-in from government officials, parents, teachers and children for longer-term programs with more subtle changes over time, such as childhood and community education and skills-building.
In each project location, deworming is carried out in conjunction with educational activities to promote and sustain positive changes in health behaviors to help prevent future infection. In Peru, deworming is administered through INMED’s Healthy Babies program; in South Africa, treatment is delivered through the Healthy Futures South Africa program; and in Brazil, deworming is carried out through INMED’s flagship Healthy Children, Healthy Futures program.
Healthy Children, Healthy Futures promotes children's healthy growth and development through an integrated program of:
- Treatment: Treating children for intestinal parasitic infection and nutritional deficiencies
- Education: Teaching children about good nutrition, preventive health habits, and hygiene and sanitation measures that help prevent disease
- Action: Empowering children through interactive, participatory activities to put the lessons they have learned into action to improve the health and quality of life of their families and communities
The adaptable Healthy Children, Healthy Futures program model provides a platform for mobilizing communities to address a wide range of concerns, including family health and hygiene, nutrition, food security, environmental health, reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.
Deworming Treament is also featured at: