Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is set to launch a massive deworming campaign across the state on February 10 to mark National Deworming Day (NDD). The initiative aims to deworm children and adolescents aged one to 19 years, ensuring better health and hygiene.

The statewide drive will be conducted by the Directorate of Family Welfare under the state Health Department in collaboration with the National Health Mission (NHM) and UNICEF. The campaign will cover more than 1.46 crore children in the targeted age group.

Additionally, the drive will extend to 17,73,187 women of reproductive age (WRA), including those aged 20 to 24 years who are non-pregnant and non-lactating.

A total of 24 districts will be covered under the deworming campaign, including Angul, Boudh, Bhadrak, Bargarh, Balasore, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Gajapati, Jharsuguda, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Keonjhar, Koraput, Kendrapara, Malkangiri, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Puri, Sambalpur, Subarnapur, and Sundargarh.

In the remaining six districts – Balangir, Cuttack, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Nayagarh, and Rayagada – the campaign will also cover mass drug administration for Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) in selected blocks, while the deworming drive will be carried out in the remaining blocks.

To ensure complete coverage, a Mop-up Day (MUD) will be observed on February 17 for those children who missed their deworming dose on February 10.

Alongside the NDD drive, the state government will also roll out a Vitamin-A supplementation programme for 32,10,650 children aged nine months to five years, further strengthening child health and nutrition in Odisha.