What is the primary WHO strategy for controlling widespread Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs)?
Answer
Preventive Chemotherapy (PC).
Given the massive global burden of Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STHs), the World Health Organization prioritizes a strategy called Preventive Chemotherapy (PC). This strategy shifts the focus away from waiting for individual diagnoses and instead targets high-risk groups—such as preschool children, school-age children, and women of reproductive age residing in endemic zones—with periodic deworming medication. The primary objective of PC is morbidity control, meaning the goal is to maintain a worm burden low enough to prevent adverse health outcomes associated with chronic infection, such as malnutrition, impaired cognitive development, and anemia.
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