Chevron de-worms 80,000 school children

No fewer than 80, 000 school children
from three local government areas of
Ondo state are to benefit from the mass
de-worming programme organised by oil
giant, Chevron.

The programme organised in conjunction
with the Women’s Right Advancement
and Protection Alternative (WRAPA) drew
beneficiaries from Akure South, Akure
North and Ilaje local government areas of
the state.

The programme was also designed for
children who are below the age of 12.
In his address, the General Manager,
Policy, Government and Public Affairs of
Chevron, Deji Haastrup, disclosed that the
target of the programme was to dei-
worm over 80, 000 children.
He said the organisation had early in the
year deployed its de-worming
programme in the state, targeted at over
10, 000 children in 10 primary schools in
Akure and communities in the Ilaje
Regional Development Committee (IRDC)
under its Global Memorandum of
Understanding (GMoU).

He said the organisation embarked on the
exercise because it had been established
that worm infestation was a leading cause
of ill health and mortality in school age
children, mostly in developing countries.
He added that available statistics from
the World Health Organisation (WHO)
indicates that hook worm was a leading
cause of anaemia and protein
malnutrition, afflicting an estimated 740
million people in the developing nations
of the tropics.

Haastrup said, “Chevron is
committed to supporting
improvement in health delivery in Nigeria
through investments in preventive health
programmes, health and social
infrastructure, sponsorship on manpower
development in the health sector and
provision of other health facilities.

“Chevron is delighted to engage in this
de-worming campaign programmes
because it is in the spirit of our
commitment to being a socially
responsible company, with a reputation
for protecting people and environment”.

Also speaking, the wife of the the state
governor, Mrs. Olukemi Mimiko,
commended the contributions of Chevron
to the health development of the state.
She stated that there was the need for
synergy between government and the
private sector towards a qualitative health
care delivery for the children.

Mimiko said, “Our children are our future,
we should take care of them, if we do this
our future will be secured, there is the
need for parents and teachers to ensure
good hygiene of these children in order
for them to live a disease free life”.

The Ondo state First Lady said the state
government was committed to child
health and infant mortality, saying that
such accounted for the huge investment
in the sector by the government.