The Red Cross has donated 1 million deworming pills to the government as part of the ongoing relief efforts for last year’s flood victims. The pills were promptly handed through the International Red Cross Red Crescent Society and the Cambodian Red Cross to the National Malaria Center in a ceremony Tuesday.
Victims of last year’s floods are still facing food shortages, and Red Cross efforts will continue through June, according to Seija Tyrninoksa, head of the international federation in Cambodia.
During food shortages, the worms that have amassed in children’s stomachs are even more threatening than normal. “It’s like having a permanent person inside you,” said Dr Stefan Hoyer, the World Health Organization’s malaria expert. “You have to eat for two when you don’t have enough food for one.”
The 500-mg mebendazole tablets—which cost just $0.03 apiece—kill two types of round worms, which either suck blood from the upper intestine or steal food from the stomach, leaving a host malnourished.
The pills went to the National Malaria Center because the mosquito nets distributed by the center “are a platform for the delivery of health services,” Hoyer said. When villagers gather to receive mosquito nets, it’s easy to address other health problems they are facing.
The deworming pills are a part of those efforts. Giving the pills to the malaria center will ensure they will “be used in the most affected provinces,” she said.
