ADDIS ABABA, 15 December 2015 | More than 17 million children aged 5–14 years will be treated for two neglected tropical diseases – soil-transmitted helminthiases (intestinal worms) and schistosomiasis (bilharzia) between 23 November 2015 and 29 February 2016. The programme by the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health started late last month in Hawassa in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.
The country-wide initiative of the Ministry of Health is supported by the Ministry of Education and aims at reducing the parasitic burden of both diseases.