OneWorld Health Joins State Initiative to Protect Kids from Worms in India

Sept. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- South San Francisco, CA – September 19, 2011 – OneWorld Health (OWH), a non-profit organization that develops lifesaving medicine for neglected diseases in children, announced that it will partner with the Jharkhand State Department of Health soil transmitted helminth (STH) control initiative aimed at reducing chronic worm infection and high incidence among children.  STHs are worms that infect the gastrointestinal track and can cause severe blood and vitamin deficiency.  STH infections are common in the developing world and an estimated 2 billion people have active infections at any given time.  

“STH infections are particularly dangerous for children, as the malnutrition they cause can weaken their physical health and impede their ability to learn,” said Richard Chin, MD and CEO of OWH, “Our mission is to help kids become and stay healthy, and we are happy to work with the Jharkhand State Department of Health on this widespread problem.”

The project combines education, epidemiology, and de-worming in selected districts of Jharkhand.  OWH will provide support in four different areas: training public health personnel in STH epidemiology and control, conducting a sample survey in rural blocks to determine the prevalence of STH infections in a village setting, implementing a school-based de-worming campaign, and developing Behavioral Change Communication strategies that can have a long term impact to improve health and hygiene in the communities and reduce the spread of intestinal worm infection.
 
Headquartered in South San Francisco, OneWorld Health is a non-profit research and development organization that discovers, develops and delivers safe, effective and affordable new treatments and interventions for impoverished patients, especially children, suffering from neglected diseases in the developing world.  More information can be found here: www.oneworldhealth.org.

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Headquartered in South San Francisco, OneWorld Health is a non-profit research and development organization that discovers, develops and delivers safe, effective and affordable new treatments and interventions for impoverished patients, especially children, suffering from neglected diseases in the developing world. More information can be found here: www.oneworldhealth.org.