Parents, schools oppose deworming programme in Naivasha

Parents and private schools in Naivasha are up in arms over the ongoing deworming programme targeting students in primary schools.

They have accused the Ministry of Health of undertaking the exercise without involving them, leading to confusion and anxiety among the students.

In the last couple of weeks, the ministry has been issuing deworming and Vitamin A tablets to the students as part of improving their health.

The ministry has however defended the exercise noting that it was voluntary and that the drugs dispensed did not have any side effects.

Drama unfolded at High Peak Junior Academy after the management and some parents rejected a move by officers from the department to deworm the students.

According to the school director David Mwangi, they were caught unawares by the health drive adding that the ministry had not informed them in advance.

He said that the school was responsible for the health of the over 1,000 students adding that parents should also be looped in.

“Some officers arrived at the school with a directive to deworm the students and issue them with Vitamin A tablets but we have not been consulted,” he said.

Mwangi was however quick to add that the school was working with necessary government agencies in various activities and was not opposed to the current drive.

“What would happen if these drugs had complications among the students yet we are the custodians?” he posed.

A parent only identified as Ndegwa said that his child could not take the deworming tablets as he had taken them during school holidays.

“There have been reports of some minors developing complications during the recent polio vaccination by the ministry and we are not taking chances,” he said.

But speaking on phone, Naivasha sub-county public health officer Margaret Mungai defended the exercise terming it as voluntary.

She said that the exercise had been going on in all public schools in the sub-county and no complaint had been reported.

“We are working with other stakeholders in this exercise and the drugs being dispensed are safe and have never caused any problems,” she said.

She added that the department would engage those parents and schools opposed to the ongoing exercise and seek a way forward for the benefit of the students.