The Cross River State Government has launched its 2026 school-based deworming initiative, targeting 400,000 children aged five to 14 across selected local government areas.
The programme aims to control and eventually eliminate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), focusing on soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis among school-aged children.
Mr. Tochi Ohaji, Senior Manager at Evidence Action, the NGO implementing the programme, said the campaign aligned with Nigeria’s national plan to eradicate NTDs by 2030.
Ohaji noted that past interventions in the state have achieved significant results: soil-transmitted helminthiasis prevalence dropped by 48.5 per cent, while schistosomiasis fell by 76 per cent over seven years.
“The current administration has approved N64 million to sustain deworming and disease elimination programmes,” he said.
The five-day exercise began Wednesday, with trained health teams visiting schools in 14 local government areas.
Seven LGAs would participate in the initial phase, including Calabar Municipality, Calabar South, Odukpani, Biase, Akamkpa, Yakurr, and Etung, while remaining areas will be reached in subsequent rounds.
Ohaji urged parents, school authorities, and community leaders to support the initiative to ensure all eligible children receive treatment.
Health workers have also been trained to administer medications safely in schools and communities.
Mr. Jacob Solomon, Programme Officer for Schistosomiasis and Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis at the Federal Ministry of Health, highlighted the challenge of declining donor funding.
He urged state governments to allocate dedicated budgets for disease elimination and ensure timely release of funds, stressing that stronger domestic support is essential for sustaining progress.
Veronica Mark, Cross River Coordinator for NTDs, added that the programme also targets hard-to-reach areas, ensuring equitable access to treatment across the state.
The federal government supervises the initiative to ensure effective implementation, while states own and manage programme operations.
The programme emphasised that mass deworming is critical to protecting children’s health and safeguarding educational outcomes in endemic communities.
